Cop gaffe on arena blast IDS

THE private details of 432 survivors of the Manchester Arena terror atrocity were revealed in a police bungle.

Greater Manchester Police had set up an email list for a support group – which was not anonymised in a test message.

Survivors of May’s suicide bombing, in which 22 died and 500 were injured, were left distressed and the gaffe breached the Data Protection Act. The email, from Det Sgt Anthony Hanlon, was recalled after about an hour and the force apologised.

Survivor Jacqueline Fletcher, 29, of Reading, said: “The apology called the gaffe a ‘simple administrative error’.

“If they make that mistake, what else can they do? It’s scary.”

A GMP spokesman said the error was “regrettable”, adding: “We are taking steps to ensure this will not happen again.”