Manchester Arena attack: Security services might have prevented Manchester Arena bombing, inquiry finds

Published

2 years ago

March 2, 2023

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The security services were guilty of “a significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented” the Manchester Arena bombing, according to the chairman of the inquiry into the atrocity.

A report published by former high court judge Sir John Saunders, the third and final from his inquiry, looked at whether MI5 and counter-terror police could have prevented bomber Salman Abedi from carrying out the attack.

Inquiry latest: Bomber’s family held ‘significant responsibility’ for his radicalisation

The inquiry had heard Manchester-born Abedi had been on the radar of the security services for seven years before the bombing.

Twenty-two people died and hundreds were injured in Abedi’s suicide bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.

The report also covered the radicalisation of Abedi and the planning and preparation for the attack.

But the focus for many of the families of the victims has been the failings of the security services to prevent the attack.

In his report, Sir John said: “There was a significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack.

“It is not possible to reach any conclusion on the balance of probabilities or to any other evidential standard as to whether the attack would have been prevented.

“However, there was a realistic possibility that actionable intelligence could have been obtained which might have led to actions preventing the attack.”

He said the reason for the missed opportunity included a failure by a Security Service officer to act swiftly enough.

‘Devastating conclusion’

The inquiry, he said, also identified problems with the sharing of information between the Security Service and counter-terrorism police.

“It remains quite impossible to say whether any different or additional action taken by the authorities could have prevented the attack. It might have done; it might not have done.”

Families of the victims described the report as a “devastating conclusion”.

In a statement they said: “Today’s report has been deeply painful to read, but also eye-opening. On the issue of the preventability of this attack, inevitably the report provides less information than we would have wanted. But it is now very clear that there was a failure to properly assess key intelligence about Salman Abedi; a failure to put it into proper context; and – most catastrophic of all – a delay in acting on it.

“As a result of these failures, at the very least, a real possibility of preventing this attack was lost. This is a devastating conclusion for us. The failures exposed in this report are unacceptable.”

They added: “It is clear that Salman Abedi should have been referred to Prevent (counter-terror programme). It is clear that the education system needs to be more vigilant in picking up signs of radicalisation. It is clear that Didsbury mosque turned a blind eye to extremism in its midst. Sir John’s report today contains many lessons; we must heed every one of them and make the necessary changes urgently.

“On 22 May 2017, thousands of people left their homes to attend a concert at Manchester Arena. 22 of those would never return home. Those killed and injured in this murderous attack had every right to feel safe and protected, but as this inquiry has demonstrated, they were failed at every level – before, during and after this horrific attack.”

‘Intelligence was not shared’

A number of MI5 and police counter-terrorism detective witnesses gave evidence behind closed doors during the 17-month inquiry. The sessions were held in secret in an effort not to compromise national security.

A summary of some of their evidence was later made public but the so-called “gist” did not reveal any details about the intelligence received by MI5 in the months before the attack.

But Sir John’s report identified the “principal missed opportunity” as two pieces of intelligence received by the Security Service in the months prior to the attack, “the significance of which was not fully appreciated at the time”.

Both of those pieces of intelligence, which were not disclosed in the report, were assessed to relate to “non-nefarious activity or to non-terrorist criminal activity” on the part of Abedi.

Neither piece of intelligence was shared by the Security Service (MI5) with counter-terror police in the northwest. If further investigative steps had been taken as a result of one of those pieces of intelligence, Sir John said, “this would have increased the overall prospect that the attack would have been prevented”.

The other critical piece of intelligence, Sir John said, “gave rise to the real possibility of obtaining information that might have led to actions which prevented the attack. We cannot know what would have happened, but there is at least the material possibility that opportunities to intervene were missed”.

When Abedi returned to the UK from Libya four days before the attack, he said, that information could have led to his Nissan Micra, which contained the explosive, being followed by police.

When the second piece of intelligence was received, Sir John said, the Security Service officer should have discussed it straight away and written their report on the same day but did not do so.

“The delay in providing the report led to the missing of an opportunity to take a potentially important investigative action. I am satisfied that such an investigative action would have been a proportionate and justified step to take. This should have happened,” he said.

Sir John said the security service and police “underestimated the risk” of returnees from Libya because of their focus on those from Syria.

Abedi’s radicalisation

The inquiry identified other missed opportunities to intercept Abedi.

The Security Service had first received information relating to him in December 2010, he was treated as a “subject of interest” in 2015 and had contact with a convicted terrorist and “known radicaliser” Abdalraouf Abdallah.

Messages between Abedi and Abdalraouf Abdallah were not given to the security service by counter-terror police. They should have been, Sir John said, as this would have added to the picture about Abedi’s “actions and intentions”.

A meeting to consider further investigation of Abedi had been scheduled for 31 May 2017, nine days after the bombing.

In his report, Sir John said the Abedi family – father Ramadan, mother Samia and elder brother Ismail – held “significant responsibility” for the radicalisation of Salman Abedi and his younger brother Hashem. Hashem Abedi is serving a minimum of 55 years for helping to plan the attack.

“Salman Abedi’s radicalisation journey into operational violent Islamist extremism was primarily driven by noxious absences and malign presences,” Sir John said.

“Noxious absences included a prolonged disengagement from mainstream English education and parental absence. Malign presences included the ongoing conflict in Libya and engagement with a radicalising peer group.”

‘Missed opportunities’

Sir John’s first inquiry report, published in June 2012, focussed on security arrangements on the night of the bombing and highlighted a string of “missed opportunities” to intercept Abedi before he detonated his device.

His second report, published in November last year, was highly critical of the emergency service response. He judged that one of the victims, John Atkinson, would have probably survived had it not been for the inadequate response. There was a “remote possibility” that the youngest victim, eight-year-old Saffie-Rose Roussos, could have lived.

In his final report, Sir John said, Abedi “left behind no message to explain why he carried out the attack. The evidence I heard does not provide a definitive answer as to why he did what he did”.

He said the national security interest of holding some parts of the inquiry in private “has been particularly difficult for the bereaved families”.

He added: “I am sorry that I have not been able to reveal in my open report everything I have discovered. I know that what I have revealed, while increasing public knowledge, will raise other questions.”

Sir John made a number of recommendations in his final report.

He said that no one should underestimate the “very difficult job” of security services, particularly with the emergence of lone actor terrorists whose activities are more difficult to track.

Dozens of so-called “late-stage attack plots” had been disrupted since the start of 2017, he said.

“Having said all that, if the Security Service or counterterrorism policing make mistakes, then these need to be identified and steps taken to put them right.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she is “committed” to working with MI5 and the police to “do everything possible” to prevent a repeat of the “horrifying” attack.

UK

Woman cancer-free after UK’s first liver transplant for advanced bowel cancer

Published

1 hour ago

January 6, 2025

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Woman cancer-free after UK's first liver transplant for advanced bowel cancer

A 32-year-old woman is cancer-free after undergoing the UK’s first liver transplant for advanced bowel cancer.

Bianca Perea, a trainee lawyer from Manchester, was diagnosed with the most advanced kind of bowel cancer in November 2021, with doctors telling her they aimed to prolong her life rather than find a cure.

But, alongside other treatments including targeted drug therapy, chemotherapy and surgery, the transplant has been a huge success and Ms Perea now has no signs of cancer anywhere in her body.

Ms Perea first visited her GP in Wigan after feeling constipated and bloated. After tests, a colonoscopy and a biopsy, she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, which had spread to all eight segments of her liver.

Ms Perea accepted the diagnosis, but said she refused to believe the outlook was so bleak.

“I don’t want to sound kind of ignorant or arrogant or anything like that but I just didn’t feel in my gut that that was going to be it,” she said.

Her mother asked about a possible transplant at that stage but was told it was not a feasible treatment.

Ms Perea had 37 rounds of a targeted drug called panitumumab plus chemotherapy for two and a half years.

She had an excellent response to the treatment, which meant she was able to have an operation in May 2023 to remove the bowel tumour.

But scans showed she still had tumours in her liver, which could not be operated on.

Nevertheless, because her response to chemotherapy had been so good and her bowel cancer was seemingly gone, doctors began to look at liver transplants.

Ms Perea was added to the transplant list in February 2024 and was lucky enough to find a donor last summer.

She said: “Within four weeks of going under the knife, I was able to drive and walk the family dogs, it was really quite incredible.

“To go from being told I’d only have a short time to live to now being cancer-free is the greatest gift.

“I’ve been given a second chance at life and I’m going to grab it with both hands. I am so grateful to the family who agreed to donate their loved one’s liver.

“I do believe this is a cure. They’re always hesitant to say that, obviously, but I am cancer-free right now.”

Now, Ms Perea is looking forward to going on holiday this year and is working on improving her fitness.

“My liver is doing really well,” she said. “I get tests on that, and I’ve just had my second scan and that’s all clear, so it’s really good.”

Dr Kalena Marti, Ms Perea’s oncologist, said: “To see that Bianca has had such a positive outcome is wonderful.

“When we looked at the tumour cells in her liver after it had been removed, they weren’t active.

“This is excellent news, and we hope that this means that the cancer won’t come back.”

She added: “Advanced bowel cancer is complex and there are lots of different types of the disease, so what works for one person might not work for another. As a result, it’s important that we continue to develop new treatments.

“Thanks to the generosity of organ donors and their loved ones, we can now access liver transplants for some patients, which is fantastic.”

You can watch a full interview with Ms Perea at 8.30am this morning on Sky News Breakfast.

UK

Millions of commuters face more snow, ice and rain after weekend of travel disruption

Published

4 hours ago

January 6, 2025

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Millions of commuters face more snow, ice and rain after weekend of travel disruption

Millions of commuters returning to work and school this morning will face more snow, ice and rain, as several weather warnings remain in place across the UK.

More travel disruption is likely due to flooding from heavy rain and thawing snow, the Met Office said, with 97 flood warnings and 262 flood alerts in place.

It comes after most of the country saw heavy snow or icy rain fall over a wintry weekend.

Major airports closed their runways for several hours due to snow, while stranded vehicles and collisions blocked key roads across England.

Follow UK weather updates live

An amber weather warning remains in place until 6am this morning across parts of Lancashire, Cumbria and the Lake District.

Travel delays, stranded vehicles and power cuts are all likely under the warning – while rural communities could be cut off with up to an additional 15cm of snow falling during the period, the Met Office said.

Leeds Bradford Airport warned passengers last night that disruption caused by the bad weather is likely to continue into Monday.

Several yellow weather warnings for snow, ice and rain will remain in place across Britain and Northern Ireland until this afternoon.

The Environment Agency said a combination of melting snow and rain could lead to “significant river flooding”, and advised people to stay away from swollen rivers and not drive through flood water.

Cold air will return and remain across the whole country from Monday onwards after a brief spell of milder conditions in southern areas, the Met Office said.

Deputy chief forecaster Mike Silverstone said: “The low pressure that brought the snow and heavy rain in the south will move out to the east by Monday. This will allow a cold northerly flow to become established again for much of next week.

“This will bring further sleet, snow and hail showers to northern Scotland in particular, but possibly to some other areas, especially near western coasts, with a fair amount of dry and bright weather elsewhere.”

He added: “Temperatures will remain below average, with widespread frost and the threat of ice at times. Some areas, especially in the north, may struggle to get above freezing for several days.”

Further weather warnings could be issued with the potential for some snow to fall in southern and central England and Wales around the middle of the week, Mr Silverstone said.

You can stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings by clicking here.

UK

Sir Keir Starmer to launch plan for two million more NHS appointments

Published

10 hours ago

January 6, 2025

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Sir Keir Starmer to launch plan for two million more NHS appointments

Sir Keir Starmer will launch his plan to deliver millions more appointments across the NHS and to reduce waiting times to 18 weeks over the next five years.

The prime minister will lay out how greater access to community diagnostic centres (CDCs) will help deliver up to half a million more appointments, alongside 14 new surgical hubs and three expanded existing hubs.

Up to a million appointments could be freed up by giving patients the choice to forego follow-up appointments currently booked by default, the government says.

Overall, the plan will involve a drive to deliver two million extra appointments by the end of next year.

The aim of the reforms is that by the end of March 2026, an extra 450,000 patients will be treated within 18 weeks.

Figures published by NHS England last month showed an estimated 7.54 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of October – the lowest figure since March 2024.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the last time the NHS met the target of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks was in 2015.

The reforms for England will also see an overhaul of the NHS app to give patients greater choice over where they choose to have their appointment and will also provide greater detail to the patient including their results and waiting times.

The first step in the digital overhaul will be completed by March 2025, when patients at over 85% of acute trusts will be able to view their appointment details via the NHS app, the government said.

They’ll also be able to contact their provider and receive updates, including how long they are likely to wait for treatment.

In the effort to free-up one million appointments, patients will be given more choice over non-essential follow up appointments, while GPs will also be given funding to receive specialist advice from doctors before they make any referrals.

Sir Keir is expected to say: “This government promised change and that is what I am fighting every day to deliver.

“NHS backlogs have ballooned in recent years, leaving millions of patients languishing on waiting lists, often in pain or fear. Lives on hold. Potential unfulfilled.

“This elective reform plan will deliver on our promise to end the backlogs. Millions more appointments. Greater choice and convenience for patients. Staff once again able to give the standard of care they desperately want to.”

The CDCs will be open 12 hours a day and seven days a week wherever possible. Patients will be able to access a broader range of appointments in locations that are more convenient for them and which may speed up the pace of treatment.

The government believes its plan will help it to deliver the equivalent to 40,000 extra appointments a week in its first year – which was one of Sir Keir’s six key pledges.

Chancellor Rachel Reeve pledged £22bn over the next two years to cut NHS waiting times in her October budget, but some in the sector fear a workforce shortage means the prime minister’s ambitions will be hard to achieve.

There have been some concerns that giving patients choice of the location of their treatment may see some hospitals in greater demand than others – but Health Secretary Wes Streeting said this was a “matter of principle”.

“When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, I was inundated with colleagues in parliament who were asking who my surgeon was, whether I was going to the best place for treatment, whether I was exercising my right to choose in the NHS,” he said.

“Now, it turned out I had one of the best kidney cancer surgeons in the country assigned to me by the NHS, so I was lucky.

“But frankly, someone like my mum as a cleaner should have as much choice and power in the NHS as her son, the health secretary.”

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the government’s plan was an “ambitious blueprint”.

“The radical reforms in this plan will not only allow us to deliver millions more tests, appointments and operations, but do things differently too – boosting convenience and putting more power in the hands of patients, especially through the NHS app.”