Manchester Attack Survivors File Case Against MI5: Lawyers
- Order Reprints
- Print Article
© Agence France-Presse
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.
https://www.barrons.com/news/manchester-attack-survivors-file-case-against-mi5-lawyers-475b6d57
More than 250 survivors of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack have filed a lawsuit against Britain's domestic intelligence services, their lawyers said in a statement Sunday.
In May 2017, 22 people were killed and another 100 injured when a bomber detonated his device at an Ariana Grande pop concert.
An official enquiry found in March 2023 that the attack might have been stopped if Britain's MI5 security service had acted on vital intelligence.
"Legal teams representing injured survivors and families of the deceased from the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 can confirm that they have collectively submitted a group claim on behalf of more than 250 clients to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT)," the three law firms involved in the lawsuit -- Hudgell Solicitors, Slater & Gordon and Broudie Jackson Canter -- said in a statement sent to AFP.
The lawyers said they could not give more details at this stage.
The suicide attack, as concert-goers were leaving the show at the Manchester Arena in northern England, was carried out by 22-year-old Salman Abedi, who was from Manchester but of Libyan descent.
Inspired by the Islamic State group, he used a homemade shrapnel bomb to target crowds of mostly young people who had been attending the concert by the US pop star, as well as parents who had come to pick up their children.
The IPT is an independent body that investigates complaints from people who believe they have been a victim of unlawful action by a public authority using covert investigative techniques and those targeting the intelligence services.
Delays in relation to one of two pieces of intelligence led to the "missing of an opportunity to take a potentially important investigative action", John Saunders, the chairman of the 2023 enquiry, said in his report last year.
MI5 director-general Ken McCallum said at the time that he was "profoundly sorry that MI5 did not prevent the attack".
mhc/mr/nmc/rox
More than 250 survivors of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack have filed a lawsuit against Britain's domestic intelligence services, their lawyers said in a statement Sunday.
An error has occurred, please try again later.
Thank you
This article has been sent to
Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.