HOW – just how – did we go from three girls being barbarically murdered to thugs rioting wherever they can?

The attendees at Wath on Sunday, who targeted the Holiday Inn because of its long contract to house asylum seekers, should be labelled as far right but they can’t possibly be, because they’re too stupid to know what that even means.

Tracksuit-wearing idiots wreaked havoc – some even brought their young children along – and as the cans of Stella flowed well into the afternoon, the disorder grew to the point of the hotel’s windows being smashed and fires being started.

Dissect that, though, and their behaviour seems even more ludicrous. Social media spread wholly false claims that the killer was a Muslim asylum seeker who ‘arrived by boat’ – the same old spiel – which Facebook Karens absolutely always share to their fellow buffoons.

A Cardiff-born Brit with no known links to Islam then rang out but the toxicity of social media fuelled poisonous rumours which stuck and, typically, were lapped up and ran with.

Social media is a dangerous place on all platforms because although it’s a valuable tool, there’s seemingly no policing of it and in this situation it’s been used as something that’s spread untrue statements to the gullible masses.

The police’s response – indeed as it has been right across the country – has been appalling in South Yorkshire; instead of ruling with an iron fist in times such as this they’ve been meek and weak.

Watching footage of police officers scurrying away – some clearly who were young, inexperienced and absolutely overwhelmed by the situation – is shocking to watch.

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They’re there to apparently uphold the law yet clearly they’re incapable in scenarios like this.

The killing of innocent children conjures up a very specific kind grief and it particularly impacts you if you’re a parent – it’s anyone’s worst nightmare and the senseless nature of the murderer’s actions multiply those emotions even more.

But grief isn’t the overriding factor in this anymore, particularly with protests taking place an hour away from where the atrocity occurred many days afterwards and being founded on nonsense.

Grief has been replaced by a thuggish, nonchalant, we-will-do-what-we-want attitude; ask the majority of Wath’s chav army the little girls’ names and you’d be greeted by a confused expression, or probably a punch for your troubles.

This tragedy – the worst tragedy – should never have been used as a vehicle for society’s brainless to run amok with next to no consequence.

A few token arrests were inevitable, so any police glee can immediately be put into its shameful box because it's nowhere near enough.

Whatever happens now, the police absolutely must get a firm grip on this kind of thing. Mob rule should not be tolerated.