Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social

Contributing reporter to the New York Times in London, author of 'Plotters: The UK Terrorists Who Failed'

Recent work: https://www.nytimes.com/by/lizzie-dearden
Website: https://www.lizziedearden.com/

Obviously I knew the AI Overview result to be false and skip them as a general rule, but extremely bad to know that people purposefully seeking out news articles in an age where every online tool seems to be fighting journalism could be told the very thing they're looking for doesn't exist
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Google's AI Overview told me I hadn't written an article for the New York Times about the Southport attack, claiming: "There is no information in the search results about her writing about Southport"

But the first search result was the article I'd written for the NYT about the Southport attack
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I have been tracking this group on Telegram and while its origins, size and many other details are unclear, it really has been claiming responsibility for these attacks and they have been happening for almost a month now

Some used bombs, it's very real and very dangerous
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There has been a lot of scepticism about the Golders Green fire in particular

While we are waiting for more information to come out if and when anyone is charged, and from arrests in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, I would only say that there is nothing that looks remotely like a "false flag"
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Further developments today with the group behind the Golders Green fire and other attacks on Jewish and American targets across Europe

3 men have been arrested in London and in Paris, investigators say suspects were paid €500 to €1,000 to attack the Bank of America
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/world/bank-of-america-attack-pro-iranian-group.html?unlocked_article_code=1.XlA.F59Q.7MhSuyseOnkb&smid=url-share
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I've done a deep dive into the enduring drone problem driving up a violent trade in drugs and contraband inside Britain's prisons

Security measures are being introduced to stop inmates being able to access drones, but smugglers are inventive and business is booming
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/world/europe/uk-prisons-contraband-drones.html?unlocked_article_code=1.XlA.ltsw.SHP6x42jTjeR&smid=url-share
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Interesting retweet by the former home secretary James Cleverly

He was actually quite well-liked by civil servants, certainly compared to his near Conservative contemporaries, although the bar was very low
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And there it is
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Here's GMP's full statement detailing its process, which goes into a highly unusual amount of detail for police decisions of this kind

I suspect the force has done that because they fear, or know, they will receive political criticism and want the facts out there www.gmp.police.uk/news/greater-manchester/news/news/2026/march/criminal-investigation-concludes-into-family-voting-allegations/
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The police also asked all polling stations in Gorton and Denton for CCTV. 41 said it wasn't active because of guidance on voting secrecy

CCTV from 3 polling stations that Democracy Volunteers visited was viewed but does "not show any evidence of anyone directing or coercing another on how to vote"
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GMP says the Democracy Volunteers did not document suspect descriptions or timings that could be pursued in an investigation

It says officers also spoke to the Presiding Officers at 15 stations as well as the Acting Returning Officer, and they have "received no further criminal reports"
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But "the observers do not allege any verbal instruction or physical conduct that indicated one person was directing or coercing another regarding how to vote," GMP says.

"This is a crucial part of the legislation to prove such an offence was committed"

This is the law they're referring to:
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GMP say they spoke to the four Democracy Volunteers observers whose report sparked Reform's complaint, who shared their eyewitness accounts

GMP says they included "some instances of more than one voter going into a booth at the same time, and instances of people looking over the shoulder of voters"
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Greater Manchester Police has found "no evidence of any intent to influence or refrain any person from voting" in the Gorton and Denton by-election, after Reform made a complaint over alleged "family voting"

The investigation looked at potential offences under the Representation of the People Act
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This boy was jailed for 3.5 years today

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said the case should be "a warning to all about the dangers of extreme online content which can have real life consequences"

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/world/europe/nazzaro-nazi-terror-cell-russia-base-europe.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V1A.4dSS.VppEpUPOKubK&smid=url-share
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There was a debate within policing about whether to declare some of the attacks that happened on asylum hotels after the 2024 Southport attack as terrorism

Ultimately they were not and lesser charges of racially-motivated arson/criminal damage/violent disorder were used
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The second was on 2 April 2024 when neo-Nazi Callum Parslow attacked a hotel outside of Worcester

Asylum seekers had recently been moved out so he only managed to stab 1 man - the only asylum seeker he could find - who had by chance returned to collect a bicycle
www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/oct/27/callum-parslow-nazi-racist-terrorist-who-plotted-to-kill-hid-in-plain-sight
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The first was on 30 October 2022, when Andrew Leak firebombed the facility that receives small boats brought ashore in Dover

He then killed himself at a nearby petrol station

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/dover-terror-attack-inquest-andrew-leak-migrants-b2220212.html
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A man has appeared at the Old Bailey charged with plotting a terror attack on a hotel housing asylum seekers in Hull

Mikka Lee Anderson, 23, from Hull, allegedly tried to recruit a helper, who reported the him to the police

There have been 2 terror attacks targeting asylum seekers in recent years
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The Met has clarified that McSweeney did not provide his phone's IMEI number or the tracking details requested by the police, after saying he did have "a tracker"

That means they couldn't track where it went next, and if even if they recovered it they wouldn't be able to identify it
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The Met says they made by phone made 2 attempts to phone McSweeney the next day but there was no answer

They "conducted a review of any available CCTV cameras in the area which didn’t identify any realistic lines of enquiry," but are now revisiting that with the correct location
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At the end of the call, the handler asks McSweeney to send in info about the phone including IMEI and any "tracking details". The Met hasn't said if it received that

If it didn't, there was no way of investigating the theft with an incorrect location, no known CCTV and this suspect description
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The Metropolitan Police doesn't normally put out call logs, it is clearly keen to defend itself here

Partly because of the nature of the story, and also because it has been fighting hard to improve public perception of its response to phone theft more generally
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/world/europe/london-police-phone-theft-china-gang.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V1A.zLV_.L38HYUP5DY4Q&smid=url-share
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The location confusion arose when McSweeney said the snatch happened in "Belgrave Street in Westminster".

But Belgrave *Road* is in Westminster and when the call handler searched Belgrave Street a Tower Hamlets location came up. Then this happened
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Met Police statement says:

"It has been assumed by many that the Met would have known details of the victim’s employment or the particular security risks associated with his device or material on it. This was not information provided to us and could not reasonably have shaped our decision making."
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The Metropolitan Police has released the call transcript of Morgan McSweeney's report of his phone being snatched in October

It shows he gave his name and said it was a "government phone", but said the wrong location and gave no details of his role in No10 or the sensitive information on the device
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