thousands of people have taken to the streets of towns and cities across England in counter demonstrations against a wave of riots by anti-immigration protesters more than 6,000 police officers were mobilized on Wednesday evening from Newcastle to Birmingham Liverpool to Brighton Sheffield to London apart from some isolated incidents in Aldershot and chattam the marches have been largely peaceful the unrest came came after misinformation was spread online that the the suspect in a fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport just over a week ago was a Muslim Asylum Seeker the first prison sentences for violent disorder have been handed down to riers involved the men all from Liverpool have been jailed for between 20 months and 3 years inquests into the deaths of the three girls have been formally opened and adjourned until the end of criminal proceedings the senior coroner giving her condolences to the families and friends of the girls with more on the counter protest here's our correspondent Joe Inwood reporting from Bristol the city had been braced for trouble so this part of Bristol is where a couple of immigration lawyers are based whose addresses have been leaked online and there was a real fear there could be a farri process taking place here today but we've been here the last couple of hours and there's not a sign of that instead something very different has happened thousands of anti-racism protesters trade unionists members of the local black and Asian Community students took over the streets in what was broadly a good-natured evening but one that sent a message I feel ashamed for our country right now it's just we're not representing ourselves in any sense of a manner that's like admirable at all you can see a lot of places are bordered up so there's been a lot of fear about what could happen um and it just felt really important that we were here to yeah to protect our community it was a picture repeated across the country wolam Stow in London saw vast crowds gathered as in Bristol to oppose the far right while there were colorful scenes in West London refuges welcome refuges are welcome here in Sheffield police had prepared for tri but none came in Cen although there were a few arrests things were generally peaceful while a March between two mosques in Arrington was greeted by people drinking at the pub and this was the scene in Newcastle of course protect our mosques because we believe this is our house and this is House of God and I think for them to stand up and really want to go around and try to destroy our mus something really hun off our street there were some isolated incidents olders shot was seemingly one of the few places the right-wing protests materialized in Brighton they were so outnumbered they needed police protection according to the man who used to oversee the police it's not only the counter protests that kept the far right off the streets but also Swift prosecutions the techniques and the instruments that the police have now for identifying people even with face coverings I won't go into detail are very very Advanced okay and also it is an offense uh to have a face covering if order to maintain a face covering if order to take it off by the by a police officer so um I think that the community has come together and I think it's an extremely positive step back in Bristol and while there was a heavy police presence all evening by 10 p.m. there had only been one arrest so this is Castle Park in Bristol and it's here on Saturday that there were running battles between the farri and anti-fascist protesters and there had been real fears that those scenes could be replicated tonight but as you can see nothing has materialized and it seems across the country that picture has been repeated and both government and the protesters on the street tonight will be hoping that this could be a turning point in this disorder Joe Inwood BBC News in Bristol