Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi should have been spotted as a threat by security on the night he killed 22, inquiry report finds

Salman Abedi waited for an hour in the Arena foyer before launching his attack
British Transport Police officers were meant to be there but had gone for kebab
Inquiry chair said loss of life would've been 'less' had bomber been confronted

By Duncan Gardham and Rory Tingle For Mailonline

Published: 14:04 BST, 17 June 2021 | Updated: 14:24 BST, 17 June 2021

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The police and private security firm at the Manchester Arena missed eight key opportunities to prevent the suicide bomb attack that killed 22 people and injured 264, the chairman of the inquiry has said in his first report.

Sir John Saunders drew attention to 'serious shortcomings' by stewards for Showsec, the multinational stewarding company, particularly after their attention was drawn to the presence of the bomber by a member of the public.

He also criticised British Transport Police for failing to ensure their officers were on duty in the City Room Foyer where Salman Abedi blew himself up on the night of May 22, 2017, and said fewer people would have died if he had been confronted earlier.

Abedi at Victoria Station making his way to the Manchester Arena, on May 22, 2017, where he detonated his bomb

In the hour before bomber Salman Abedi struck, killing 22, he waited at the back of the City Room foyer before his attack when stewards failed to respond after a worried parent pointed him out

Manchester-born Abedi, 22, of Libyan descent, walked across the City Room foyer towards an exit door and detonated his shrapnel-laden device, packed into his bulging rucksack, at 10.31pm on May 22 just as thousands, including many children, left the concert.

Sir John said: 'No-one knows what Salman Abedi would have done had he been confronted before 10.31pm. We know that only one of the 22 killed entered the City Room before 10.14pm. Eleven of those who were killed came from the Arena concourse doors into the City Room after 10.30pm.'

Sir John said: 'The security arrangements for the Manchester Arena should have prevented or minimised the devastating impact of the attack. They failed to do so. There were a number of opportunities which were missed leading to this failure.

'Salman Abedi should have been identified on 22nd May 2017 as a threat by those responsible for the security of the Arena and a disruptive intervention undertaken. Had that occurred, I consider it likely that Salman Abedi would still have detonated his device, but the loss of life and injury is highly likely to have been less.'

He said Arena operator SMG, its security provider Showsec and British Transport Police, who patrolled the area adjoining Manchester Victoria rail station, were 'principally responsible' for the missed opportunities.

BTP officers were supposed to be present in the foyer at the end of the concert, but they took a two-hour meal break on the night of attack and were patrolling the nearby station when the bomb went off.

Two officers drove five miles to get a kebab during a two-hour meal break on the night of attack while two others took a 90-minute meal break.

He added: 'Across these organisations, there were also failings by individuals who played a part in causing the opportunities to be missed.'

Undated handout file photos issued by Greater Manchester Police of the 22 victims of the terror attack during the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017. (top row left to right) Off-duty police officer Elaine McIver, 43, Saffie Roussos, 8, Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, (second row left to right) Nell Jones, 14, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, Megan Hurley, 15, Georgina Callander, 18, (third row left to right), Chloe Rutherford,17, Liam Curry, 19, Courtney Boyle, 19, and Philip Tron, 32, (fourth row left to right) John Atkinson, 26, Martyn Hett, 29, Kelly Brewster, 32, Angelika Klis, 39, (fifth row left to right) Marcin Klis, 42, Michelle Kiss, 45, Alison Howe, 45, and Lisa Lees, 43 (fifth row left to right) Wendy Fawell, 50 and Jane Tweddle, 51

The inquiry heard Abedi made three reconnaissance trips to the venue, adjoining Manchester Victoria railway station, before his fateful last journey and noticed a CCTV blind spot on the raised mezzanine level of the City Room.

Abedi, dressed in black, crouched down upstairs for nearly an hour, occasionally praying, before he walked down to the foyer.

A concerned Christopher Wild, waiting with his partner to pick up her daughter, earlier approached Abedi upstairs and said he asked him what was in his rucksack but he did not reply. When further pressed, Abedi told him he was 'waiting for someone' and asked for the time.

Mr Wild thought 'nervous' Abedi looked out of place and raised his concerns at about 10.15pm with Showsec steward Mohammed Agha, who was guarding an exit door, but told the inquiry he felt 'fobbed off'.

It was another eight minutes before Mr Agha relayed the concerns to colleague Kyle Lawler as the former had no radio to the security control room and did not believe he could leave his post, the inquiry heard.

Mr Lawler told the inquiry that he was worried that if he did approach Abedi he might be branded a racist.

All three of the security guards who failed to stop the Manchester Arena bomber had skipped through their counter-terrorism training, the inquiry into the attack heard. One of them, Kyle Lawler, told the inquiry that he was worried that if he did approach Abedi he might be branded a racist

His Showsec colleague, Mohammed Agha, told him a member of the public had raised concerns about Abedi, who was hanging around outside the Arena at an Ariana Grande concert, but he needed to remain guarding the fire exit and did not have a radio unlike Mr Lawler

Showsec is one of the largest stewarding and security companies in the country and provides staff for venues including Manchester City's ground and Twickenham stadium, the inquiry was told.

In his report, Sir John said; 'I am satisfied that there were a number of missed opportunities to alter the course of what happened that night. More should have been done.

'The most striking missed opportunity, and the one that is likely to have made a significant difference, is the attempt by Christopher Wild to bring his concerns about Salman Abedi, whom he had already challenged, to the attention of Mohammed Agha.

'Christopher Wild's behaviour was very responsible. He stated that he formed the view that Salman Abedi might 'let a bomb off'. That was sadly all too prescient and makes all the more distressing the fact that no effective steps were taken as a result of the efforts made by Christopher Wild.'

Hearings at the public inquiry into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the attack have been ongoing in the city since September last year.

Retired High Court judge Sir John is issuing his findings on a rolling basis, split into three volumes.

A further report will follow on the emergency response and the experience of each of those who died, and finally an analysis of whether the atrocity committed by Abedi, could have been prevented.