End UK riots, parents of murdered girl urge at her funeral

SOUTHPORT, England: The parents of one of three girls murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed event in northern England last month called for an end to the nationwide rioting that followed their deaths at an emotional funeral for their young daughter.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, and two other girls died and eight were injured after being stabbed in an attack at the event at the seaside town of Southport two weeks ago.

Days of riots followed in Southport and in towns and cities across the United Kingdom, triggered by false online posts wrongly identifying the suspected killer as an Islamist migrant. A teenager, born in Britain, has since been charged and police say the incident is not being treated as terrorism. At Aguiar’s funeral, the area’s police chief told the congregation that her grieving Portuguese parents, Sergio and Alexandra, had asked her to deliver a public appeal for calm.

“You have shown great courage in asking me to be here today ... to give a message from you, Alice’s family, to say that you do not want there to be any more violence on the streets of the United Kingdom in the name of your daughter,” Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said.