James Gregory
Live editor

We'll soon be pausing our live coverage, but before we do let's take a look back at what's happened today.

The suspect behind the Southport attack was named for the first time as 17-year-old Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, after the judge at Liverpool Crown Court lifted reporting restrictions.

We've also for the first time obtained photos of the suspect, taken from when he was much younger, and there have been several court sketches released.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with police chiefs from across the country to discuss plans to tackle violent disorder in several towns and cities, including Southport on Tuesday night.

Starmer condemned what he called "far-right hatred" and announced a new "national capability" in order to help police forces – more on that here.

In Southport, more flowers and handwritten tributes have been left for the three girls who died in the attack – Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven – as the community continues to mourn.

You can read more about the court hearing today here, and more reaction from on the ground in Southport here.

More flowers, cards and soft toys have been laid in tribute to the victims of the stabbing attack in Southport. Here's some of the latest images:

Image source, Lauren Moss / BBC

Image source, PA

Image source, PA

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's plans to deploy facial recognition technology more widely in a bid to tackle disorder are "alarming", a privacy campaign group says.

The measure is part of a new "national capability" across police forces to combat the unrest seen in parts of England in the wake of the Southport stabbings, Starmer announced earlier.

Big Brother Watch says the plan "threatens rather than protects democracy".

"This AI surveillance turns members of the public into walking ID cards, is dangerously inaccurate and has no explicit legal basis in the UK," the group's director, Silkie Carlo, says.

Earlier today we brought you the first court sketches from inside Liverpool Crown Court of Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, who is accused of murdering three girls at their dance class on Monday.

We've now received a couple more court sketches of Rudakubana in court today:

Image source, Helen Tipper

Image source, Helen Tipper

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

The prime minister’s promise of a new approach to tackling violent disorder seems to be based on learning lessons from how police have targeted football hooligans.

The UK’s Football Policing Unit tries to track would be trouble-makers and find ways to disrupt them. The prime minister seems to be hoping the same principle can be applied to the far-right, by making sure that individual forces that have intelligence on activists are sharing that with everyone else.

But how to stop them moving around?

This is where Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) come in. These are restrictions that can be imposed on a convicted criminal if a court suspected their future behaviour could cause “harassment, alarm or distress”.

That would obviously apply to anyone who goes out to riot. A CBO could ban them from activity such as joining a far-right protest or even entering a specific town centre.

Breaching an order can lead to up to five years in jail. So the prime minister hopes that CBOs could have a significant effect in taking violence from the streets.

None of this can happen overnight - so it’s a long-term strategic bet that a difference can be made.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

The chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council has said more disorder is not inevitable.

Speaking to the BBC after an earlier meeting with the prime minister, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens said: "It's our job in policing to be worried about this but it's not inevitable".

He said unrest in recent days was "not protest, it's violent disorder, it's criminality".

He told those thinking of attending events: "You will feel the full force of the law."

He urged communities to pull together - and said everyone had to play a part "in not fanning any flames of disorder".

Let's bring you some more on that Section 60 order in place in Southport this evening.

The order applies to Southport town centre, including Sussex Road, St Luke’s Road and the villages of Ainsdale, Hillside and Birkdale.

In a statement, Merseyside Police's Community Inspector Doug Chadwick says the orders are an "effective tool in our efforts to protect the public from the violence and destruction the town saw on Tuesday, allowing us to stop and search people suspected of carrying weapons or planning any criminality.

“People living in Southport will now be used to seeing a highly visible police presence on their streets. I hope that presence is reassuring, and I would ask anyone with concerns to speak to our officers."

Chadwick adds that the support shown by Southport's community has been of huge comfort for the Merseyside Police force.

A section 60 order, which gives police enhanced powers to stop and search and is designed to minimise violence, has been put in place in Southport this evening.

The order came into effect at 18:00 BST and will last for 24 hours, with extra officers in the area, according to Merseyside Police.

Southport's Jewish community has reached out to the town's mosque after the place of worship was targeted.

Southport Hebrew Congregation said it sent a message to the chair of the mosque.

"Inter-community relations are important... and they [the Muslim community] don't want people stoking tensions at this difficult time," said Victor Isenwater, chair of Southport Hebrew Congregation.

The congregation is also making a donation to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, where victims have been treated.

Judith Moritz and Rebecca Wearn
BBC North West

More reaction now from Southport, where the BBC has been speaking to a friend of one of the victims.

Charlotte Brown had an unimaginable task as a mother.

She had to tell her eight-year-old daughter, Poppy, that her friend from school, nine-year-old Alice Aguiar, had been killed in the Southport attack, and that a woman who ran a yoga class Poppy attended after school, Leanne Lucas, was also badly hurt.

“We didn’t know the names, but I knew that Alice was definitely in there,” Poppy told the BBC. “And when we found out she was in hospital I crossed my fingers.”

Later, Alice was named as one of the three girls who had died. “I saw the picture,” said Poppy. “And I said what is wrong with her? And you said she has died from the incident.”

“I don't think she's fully got it, that she has gone,” Charlotte said. But she has kept on letting Poppy ask questions any time she has needed.

They have been to the cordon twice to lay flowers, whenever Poppy has wanted to. “I think it’s important she sees the love and support.”

“It made me feel as though I was giving them to Alice,” Poppy said.

Poppy told her Mum that Alice was a beautiful singer, who often got the choir solos. “She’ll be a big miss,” Poppy said.

You can read more on this story here.

Will Vernon
BBC News correspondent

Image source, Merseyside Police/Reuters

The mother of a friend of Bebe King - the six-year-old who was killed in the Southport stabbings on Monday - has told the BBC her daughter is "very upset".

The woman, who would not give her name, said her six-year-old daughter sat next to Bebe in school.

“It’s not something you should tell a six-year-old, is it? She’s very upset," she said.

"I think it’s going to hit them a bit more when they go back to school because she won’t be there. It’s hard.”

The little girl, whose name was also not given, was asked by her mother whether Bebe was fun to play with.

“Yeah,” she replied, “She used to talk like [children’s cartoon character] Pikachu.”

The mother and daughter had brought flowers and a Pikachu balloon to lay at the scene of the attack.

A new photo has been released of Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, taken some years ago.

The 17-year-old suspect was named this afternoon after reporting restrictions were lifted.

Image source, Unknown

"We will be relentless in our pursuit" of people involved in the unrest in Hartlepool, police have said.

Demonstrators set fire to a police car and pelted officers with missiles in disorder that has left the town "shocked and saddened".

So far Cleveland Police have arrested 11 people.

"Our officers go above and beyond to protect the safety of our community day in and day out, they should never be subjected to the attacks they faced last night," Assistant Chief Constable David Felton said.

André Rhoden-Paul
Live reporter

Image source, TikTok

Police are investigating the assault of a young person of colour in Hartlepool who was punched in the face in an attack that has gone viral.

A screen recording of a TikTok live stream posted on social media shows a man, the police describe as "black or ethnic origin", walking along a pavement at night with a crowd of protestors in the road nearby.

A person in the background of the stream can be heard saying "this is unfortunate timing" for the man to be walking down the street, before laughing.

He is then punched in the face by a white man. The punched man then walks back down the street lined with what appears to be police behind riot shields.

BBC News has identified the street where the attack took place as Lowthian Road.

In a statement to the BBC, a Cleveland Police spokeswoman said the force is urging the man punched or anyone who knows him to contact the police.

The prime minister has said he is establishing a "national capability" across police forces to tackle violent disorder following the Southport stabbing tragedy.

He said "these thugs" move from "community to community", adding that "we must have a policing response that can do the same."

The Muslim Council of Britain is urging mosques to be "extra vigilant" and strengthen their security measures ahead of tomorrow's Friday prayers.

Secretary-general Zara Mohammed says there are reports of more planned protests, following the attacks by rioters on a mosque in Southport and other violent disorder in central London, Hartlepool, Manchester, and Aldershot.

“The last few days have witnessed shocking scenes of far-right thugs causing havoc in our streets and seeking to intimidate Muslim communities and mosques," Mohammed says.

She adds that the Muslim community should continue with "calm and a spirit of unity, as demonstrated by the locals in Southport".

The organisation will also be holding an online briefing this evening to discuss the measures.

Starmer in his news conference said he will take "every step that's necessary" to keep the Muslim community safe.

Image source, PA Media

We've just heard from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was speaking at a news conference this afternoon - if you missed it, here are the top lines:

• A new "national capability" will be set up across police forces to combat violent disorder
• Sharing intelligence, facial recognition technology and preventative measures to restrict people's movements will be part of the response
• Starmer said his meeting with police chiefs was to pull together a response to the unrest driven by "far-right hatred", and all other violent disorder that flares up
• The PM described those behind the unrest as a "gang of thugs", adding that he will not permit a breakdown of law and order on the streets
• He said the pain of the families of the Southport attack victims is "unimaginable", and the authorities must be given time to do their job

• He told the Muslim community he will "take every step that's necessary" to keep them safe and the far-right are showing who they are by attacking mosques
• He told social media companies the law must be upheld everywhere over disorder "whipped up online"

Susan Hulme
Parliamentary correspondent

The prime minister has said he is establishing a "national capability" across police forces to tackle violent disorder following the tragedy in Southport.

Following this afternoon's meeting with police chiefs in Downing Street, Starmer said: "These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community and we must have a policing response that can do the same - shared intelligence, wider deployment of facial-recognition technology and prevent action such as criminal behaviour orders to restrict their movements before they can even board a train."

He had a warning for large social media companies, saying: "Violent disorder, clearly whipped up online - that is also a crime. It's happening on your premises and the law must be upheld everywhere."

He said that he was resolved to show that the UK is a country that "will not allow understandable fear to curdle into division and hate in our communities, and that will not permit under any circumstances a breakdown in law and order on our streets."

He added it's not protest, it's not legitimate - it's crime, violent disorder" and he said "we will put a stop to it".

He also warned against speculation over the trial: "The price for a trial that is prejudiced is ultimately paid by the victims and their families who are deprived of the justice that they deserve."

The prime minister is now taking a question from a reporter from the Times, who asks what he'll do to combat misinformation online.

The reporter also asks if he has a message for Nigel Farage, who shared a video earlier this week asking questions about the Southport attacker.

Starmer says inciting violence online is a criminal offence and "is not a matter of free speech", adding that platform providers must strike a balance.

On Farage, Starmer doesn't mention him directly but says he "won't cast judgement on what others say", adding that his focus is on the victims and their families in Southport.

That brings the PM's news conference to an end. We'll bring you more detail on what he had to say soon.

Image source, PA

The Daily Mail asks Starmer about the naming of the teenager charged over the attack and if he is worried about a summer of riots.

The prime minister says the decision to name the 17-year-old was "a matter for the court".

He says the unrest in recent days was "co-ordinated" and deliberate, and says the individuals were "bent on violence".

Starmer adds it must be met with the "most robust response".