Manchester bombing evidence is withheld due to security fears
DISCLOSING some evidence in public at the Manchester Arena inquests would “assist terrorists” in carrying out similar atrocities, a coroner has ruled.
Sir John Saunders has granted applications by the Home Office and police for public interest immunity (PII) on the grounds of protecting national security.
Part of last week’s pre-inquest review hearing into the deaths of 22 people at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017 was held in private to consider the PII applications over material related to the issue of whether the attack by suicide bomber Salman Abedi could have been prevented by the authorities.
Yesterday, retired High Court judge Sir John published an open ruling in which he set out the reasons for his decision.
He said: “I have upheld the claims for PII by both the Secretary of State and CTP (Counter Terrorism Police North West).
“I have done that because I am satisfied, having heard the justifications for them, that to make
Outside the bomb attack
public those matters would assist terrorists in carrying out the sort of atrocities committed in Manchester and would make it less likely that the Security Service and CT police would be able to prevent them.
“The balancing exercise strongly favours the material in question for not being disclosed. I will, of course, keep this ruling under review.”
He added that, as a consequence, his provisional view was that an “adequate investigation” could not be conducted within the frameworks of the inquests.
It is thought that discussions of whether the inquests will be converted into a public inquiry will be raised at the next scheduled pre-inquests hearing on October 7.
Last week, Sir John reassured the families attending the hearing at Manchester Town Hall that PII “will not be used as a device for covering up responsibility” and that he will do his “very best” to ensure that does not happen.
Lawyers for the families of the 22, who have not seen the evidence the authorities want to withhold, stressed the need for as open an inquest process as possible.
John Cooper QC, representing a number of the families, told the coroner that the people making the application “are the very people who could potentially be severely criticised, and the ramifications of that are significant”.
In yesterday’s ruling, Sir John explained that Home Secretary Priti Patel had sent a PII certificate in which she stated that it was her view that disclosing the material subject to her claim will damage national security.