Police were forced to appeal for people not to speculate online about the Southport stabbing after an incorrect name for the suspect was shared on social media.

After the attack, which left three girls dead and five fighting for their lives, misinformation spread on social media, claiming that the 17-year-old unnamed suspect was an asylum seeker.

Under the law, defendants aged under 18 cannot be named unless reporting restrictions are lifted by a court.

Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, and Bebe King, 6, have been named by Merseyside Police as the three children killed in the knife attack during a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.

Police were said to be monitoring reports of a far-right rally potentially taking place in Southport on Tuesday evening amid concerns that false information could fuel community tensions.

Officers have confirmed the suspect arrested was born in Cardiff. It is understood his parents came to the UK from Rwanda, with his father believed to be a black belt in karate.

He also has an older brother who was also born in Cardiff before the family moved to Southport.

Sunder Katwala, director of the thinktank British Future, said a fake news channel seemed to have invented a false name and story.

Mr Katwala said:“There are different types of bad faith actor spreading misinformation at pace in circumstances.

“There may be low quality feeds masquerading as news sites, even scraping social media rumors to produce AI-generated content.

“There can be more deliberate networks of extreme actors, including far-right groups and foreign intelligence actors.”

Within hours, social media posts repeating the fake news, had gained millions of likes and engagements.

Downing Street has urged people to “listen to the police” and said it is “unhelpful” to speculate on the motive.

Asked whether the Prime Minister would appeal for calm if there were to be a potential far-right rally in Southport, as some reports suggest, his official spokesperson said: “Of course, people should listen to the police, they should not do anything that is going to make the police’s job harder to manage the situation, to conduct their investigations.

“It is unhelpful to speculate on things like the motive and the circumstance surrounding this.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who laid flowers at the scene on Monday, also warned against speculation.

Two teachers injured while trying to protect children from the attacker have been named as Leanne Lucas and Heidi Barlow, both 35. One of them women attempted to hide children in a toilet while the other is understood to have led others to safety.

Eight children suffered stab wounds, five remaining in a critical condition on Tuesday.

According to MailOnlinethe suspect’s former neighbors said they were “shocked” and “saddened” to learn the teenager had been arrested, adding he comes from such a “nice family”.

When he was younger, he reportedly trained in karate with his father alongside in a Cardiff suburb.

His former teacher, Sensei Chico Mbakwe, 79, told MailOnline the boy was a “typical, normal five year old”.

“He was a good child, a normal child, who had lots of energy,” he said. “I remember him because he continued to train with us for around three months after his father left for another dojo I own.”

He added: “Later when he moved to Southport he emailed me to tell me that he had finally passed his black belt – and said ‘thank you for failing me, I realize now that I wasn’t good enough’.

“The dad was just a pleasant, normal guy, and the son was just a normal five-year-old. Children don’t tend to stand out that much at that age but I do remember him.

“’I’m sad to hear what has happened. It makes me worry about my grandchildren and great-grandchildren with all the knife crime around these days.”

Another former neighbor in Cardiff said the youngest brother was an “introvert” but the older brother was “more boisterous and would stick his tongue out at you”.

“But they were an ordinary couple struggling to make a go of things here. I would speak to them over the garden fence but didn’t get to know them well. They were renting here for about 18 months to two years.

“The youngest boy hadn’t started school but the older one was at the primary nearby.

“The eldest boy would be kicking footballs, running around screaming but the youngest was quiet, he was very young.”