Hundreds of Manchester Arena bombing victims suing MI5 ‘for failing to prevent the attack’

HUNDREDS of Manchester Arena bombing victims are suing MI5 over claims it could have prevented the attack.

Around 250 survivors and relatives of the dead say the intelligence agency breached the Human Rights Act by failing to intervene before terrorist Salman Abedi killed 22 people in 2017.

Their legal teams submitted a group claim to the tribunal, which considers complaints about intelligence services conduct.

A hearing is likely to happen in early 2025, The Sunday Times reported.

It is the first time survivors have taken MI5 to court over alleged failure to stop a domestic terror attack.

Andrew Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose was killed, said taking MI5 to court was the only way it would learn.

He added: “Salman Abedi should not have made it to that arena that night.

“There were too many missed opportunities.”

Abedi had returned from Libya, where he was fighting alongside Islamic extremists, four days before his suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.

The sick suicide bomber used YouTube videos to learn how to attach chemicals and metal bolts to an electric charge.

An inquiry found MI5 had received two pieces of key information about him months before and its current boss Ken McCallum later issued an apology.

MI5 director-general Ken McCallum said last March he was “profoundly sorry” the security service did not seize the chance to stop the attack.

The agency would not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

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Matt Rayson

April 14, 2024 9:26 pm