What we know about teen suspected of the Southport attack

Born in Cardiff of Rwandan parents, the teen held over the Southport stabbings is described as an introvert who loved karate as a child but rarely left the house on his own in recent times.

The teenager held over the Southport stabbings has been described as an introvert who loved karate as a child but had rarely left the house on his own in recent times.

The 17-year-old, one of two brothers born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, was arrested by Merseyside police on Monday evening and held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

The stabbing frenzy at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class for girls left three children dead, five in a critical condition and three more injured.

Former neighbours described the suspect as a “quiet” boy who had been clingy with his mother as a child, in contrast with his elder brother, a few years older, who was “wilder and more boisterous”.

“In all the time I have lived here, I have never spoken to the lad … I’ve never seen him out on his own,” a neighbour said. “I think I’ve probably only ever seen him on two or three occasions.”

The suspect’s parents, a taxi driver and budding entrepreneur, and a stay-at-home mother, were a “nice, normal” couple who left Rwanda for a better life in the UK in 2002, neighbours said.

The children, born in the years afterwards, were enrolled at schools in Wales and as a youngster the suspect and his father trained in karate with the teacher Chico Mbakwe, 79, who remembered a “typical, normal five-year-old” with “lots of energy”.

The family worked hard to make ends meet, living in small homes in suburban Cardiff, before they moved to Merseyside in 2013.

A floral tribute from Liverpool Football Club to the child victims of the knife attack. Picture: Getty Images.

One former neighbour, 55, who lived next to them in Cardiff just before they moved north, said: “The boys were boys, they were running around the garden kicking the football and bouncing off the walls. I think the eldest one was a bit madder, more boisterous, the younger one seemed very quiet, closer to mummy. They were young — in their late twenties, early thirties — but nice parents, and they were good parents.”

She said that the couple had “made it to this country and they were safe” after the genocide in 1994 when as many as a million Rwandans were slaughtered in 100 days.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) attends a briefing with Merseyside Police Chief Serena Kennedy following the knife attack. Picture: AFP.

“Clearly they were of an age that they would have been involved [in the genocide] in some way,” the neighbour, a civil servant, continued. “When he said I’ve come from Rwanda, [my reaction] was, ‘gosh, you poor things’.

“I remember the smells of the cooking, they clearly kept their culture, their accents were quite strong so I felt they hadn’t been in the country for that long, but clearly the kids were born here.

“It’s really sad. They were your average young couple, who seemed to have fallen on their feet a little bit, as this is a really nice, quiet estate in a sought-after area.”

Another neighbour on the same street said: “I remember them playing out in the street, usually with their parents watching from the doorway. They seemed to look after their boys and were a nice, normal family. I was shocked to find out it could be someone from my street.”

On Tuesday the family’s neat semi-detached home, in the quiet cul-de-sac in the village of Banks, was still at the centre of a large police cordon.

Police said that inquiries to establish a motive for the attack were ongoing.

“We can also confirm that the incident is not currently being treated as terror-related and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident,” they said.

The Times