The chair of a Merseyside Reform UK branch has apologised after the branch shared a video containing false claims that a man was shot in Tuebrook. The video, posted on the Reform UK West Derby branch Facebook page on Sunday, October 25, showed police entering a property on Balmoral Road in Fairfield.
The footage, which the ECHO confirmed was from Thursday, October 22, showed officers approaching a house before loud bangs were heard from inside the semi-detached property. The person recording claimed a "bomb" had gone off and stated a man had been killed after gunshots were fired. These claims were incorrect, but the post, which also included the branch's assertion that the building is an "alleged HMO", has been viewed around 119,000 times.
Police response and arrests
The ECHO established the incident took place on Balmoral Road in Fairfield, not Windsor Road in Tuebrook as the branch had stated, and Merseyside Police confirmed the date. A force spokesperson said officers responded to a concern for the safety of a man on Thursday evening, and the man was traced to the Balmoral Road address. Three men were arrested.
Adrian Mucha, 19, of no fixed abode, was charged with blackmail and remanded into custody to appear in court on Saturday, October 24. A 60-year-old man and a 36-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and have been bailed.
Branch statement and apology
After the ECHO contacted Merseyside Police, a comment was posted on the Facebook post stating: "We would like to make it clear that no-one was shot during this incident and the property we attended is not a Home Office HMO. Officers were deployed to Balmoral Road in Fairfield last Thursday because concerns had been reported about a man's safety. He was found safe and three other men were arrested. One has since been charged with blackmail and appeared in magistrates court on Saturday. The other two have been released on bail while our enquiries continue. Further details will be heard in open court in due course."
The post was edited on the morning of October 27, clarifying the original information was incorrect and including information shared by the ECHO. Deborah Richards, chair of the West Derby branch, said in a statement: "I did make a statement on Facebook, the information was sent by a resident filming the incident as you can see and hear from the recording. We regularly campaign across West Derby getting to know residents and to understand how we can best support the changes residents want to see; as a result of active campaigning, residents communicate with us and send us information about various problems within the constituency, unfortunately we took the information from a resident as a fact. We have since apologised for the incorrect information posted, however, the concerns of residents are important to us at Reform UK, and I am sure we can agree that; an incident took place and is of concern to the community."
Responding to the Merseyside Police comment on the post, the branch said: "Thank you for clarifying. Apologies for the incorrect information, we was sent this information by residents in the area."
