A 17-year-old boy appears to have arrived at court to face charges of murdering three girls who were fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

A white prison van arrived at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court at around 9.30am on Thursday flanked by a large escort of police vehicles.

The teenager, from Banks in Lancashire, has been charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article and is due in the dock later on Thursday morning.

Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were fatally stabbed on Monday when a knifeman entered the dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.

Eight other children suffered knife wounds – with five of them in a critical condition – while two adults were also critically hurt.

Southport incident
Six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were killed in a “ferocious” knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday (Merseyside Police/PA)

Disorder has broken out in some towns in England following the attack, with more than 100 people arrested at a protest in Whitehall on Wednesday night, while there was also unrest in Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot.

Merseyside Police announced they were charging the boy at a midnight press conference on Thursday.

He cannot be named as he is under 18.

Police officers outside a damaged butchers shop on Murray Street in Hartlepool following an evening of unrest
Police officers outside a damaged butchers shop on Murray Street in Hartlepool following an evening of unrest (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Chief Constable of Merseyside Police Serena Kennedy said: “Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire Police and counter-terrorism police in the North West.”

Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport on Tuesday evening, but violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs injured.

Police officers and a police van block the vehicle entrance at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court
Police officers and a police van block the vehicle entrance at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court (Danny Lawson/PA)

Police called in support from neighbouring forces in case of further disorder, but the seaside town appeared to remain quiet on Wednesday evening, however unrest developed in other areas of the country.

Protesters, chanting “you’re not English any more” and throwing bottles and cans at police in riot gear, were detained on Whitehall while in Hartlepool, County Durham, a police car was set alight and glass bottles and eggs were thrown at officers.