Southport attack police give partial motive update as they confirm suspect was born in UK

Two children tragically lost their lives and six others are battling for survival following a horrific stabbing incident at a Taylor Swift themed dance workshop.

In an update this afternoon, police revealed that two brave adults who attempted to intervene were left with severe injuries and are both in critical condition. Harrowing details from the scene describe a mother screaming "my daughter's been stabbed."

A local resident described hearing a woman's screams and rushing outside to find a young mother and her approximately 10 year old daughter, both covered in blood. Deborah Parker, 57, who resides a few hundred yards from the centre, discovered the pair in a car near her home.

She recounted: "It had only just happened. I was opening the windows downstairs and a police car sped past. The lady was parked on the corner screaming 'help me, help me'. Of course I ran over, she was covered in blood, the mum. Her daughter was slumped in the passenger seat.

"She had gone to the children's club to pick her up and she came out saying 'mum, I've been stabbed'. Her mother had bundled her in the car and just sped away because she did not know what was happening. She stopped here, I was saying 'how has this happened' and she didn't know because her daughter couldn't speak. All she could say was she had been stabbed."

In a distressing partial update on the inquiries into the possible motive for the Southport attacks, police confirmed they were not terror-related, ruling that out as a possible motive. Police revealed the suspect was a 17-year-old who hails from, and was born in, Cardiff, but was most recently a resident of Banks in Lancashire. Law enforcement conducted a search at a Banks residence close to the time the arrest news