An explanation has been given as to why a description of the individual arrested at the Liverpool open-top bus parade was made public, after it was revealed that a 53-year-old white British man was in custody. At approximately 6pm, reports began circulating that some of the thousands of fans who had lined the streets of the city to celebrate the club's Premier League triumph had been hit by a moving vehicle.
Horrifying footage soon emerged of the incident, with Merseyside Police confirming they were investigating the situation. While no update has yet been provided on the wellbeing of any potential victims, the identity and background of the man arrested were quickly released. The reason for this has since been speculated on by a former member of the Metropolitan Police.
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Explanation for Suspect's Identity Revelation Given
Former chief superintendent in the Metropolitan police Dal Babu gave his thoughts
In their statement announcing that a suspect had been arrested, Merseyside Police emphasised that people should not speculate on the circumstances of the incident, stating:
"We would ask people not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding tonight’s incident on Water Street in Liverpool city centre. We can confirm the man arrested is a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area. Extensive enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the collision."
Several people picked up on the language used in the statement, specifically the wishes to not speculate on the matter, while others were surprised as to how quickly an identity was given. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former chief superintendent in the Metropolitan police, Dal Babu, gave his thoughts and suggested the speed of the statement may be linked to the Stockport murders which the Merseyside Police also dealt with.
"So if you remember through Southport, the far right on X were saying this was a Muslim asylum seeker who had just arrived on a boat, who had carried out the attacks," Dabu explained. "The lessons learnt from Southport is that you have rules and regulations but sometimes you need to feel the void, you don't allow speculation to continue, and then what you actually had with Southport is the far right gathering all over the country trying to burn down hospitals.
"So I think there were some lessons learnt from that. This is unprecedented in many ways for the police to give the ethnicity and race of a person who, at this stage, we don't know the circumstances of the person involved in the stage."