‘FEELS BETTER THAN EVER’
SICK Chris Parker, who stole from victims of the Manchester terror attack, has boasted about how great life is behind bars.
The beggar, originally hailed a hero after the atrocity, bragged he is “looking better than ever” after piling on weight in jail.
Callous Parker is serving four years after being caught stealing from the bodies of victims of the Manchester Arena attack last May.
In a series of shocking letters the lag says his conviction was a “blessing in disguise.”
He says he is enjoying life off the streets and loves being well fed.
He also says he has the luxury of choosing his grub from a menu at HMP Manchester and looks and feels great due to regular showers and shaves.
In letters seen by Daily Star Sunday he says: “I’m even eating three meals a day, haven’t done that for years and have put on loads of weight but needed to. Ha ha.
“To be honest it’s okay as I get to pick off a menu so it’s not too bad.
“Been told by the guards that I look better and look completely different.
“I’ve definitely had a shave and a haircut and put on stone in weight since I’ve been in here.
Parker adds: “Using this time well to get a better future for myself drug-free and nothing hanging over my head for once and not worrying where my next meal is.”
The lag, 33, had claimed to have helped those hurt in the attack that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert.
Well-wishers raised tens of thousands of pounds for him after he said his “gut instinct” had been to stay and help despite being caught in the blast.
But the heroin addict actually hunted through victims’ belongings.
He took an iPhone from an injured 14-year-old girl which led to her frantic parents being unable to contact her as they drove to find her.
He also stole a purse from Pauline Healey as her grand-daughter Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, lay dying.
CCTV played in court showed him wandering among the dead looking for easy pickings and repeatedly returning to injured Pauline before leaning over her and taking her handbag.
Within hours he was using her bank card at a McDonald’s.
But in letters he claims the events of that night, which also injured more than 500, were a blessing.
He says: “Fair enough I did do a bad thing, regret it everyday and will do for the rest of my life.
“But it is a blessing in disguise cause if I got that money think I would be dead by now with that habit I used to have.
“But least I’m drug free now and feel hundred times better. Just need out of here now.”
Parker whines that he is still having nightmares about what he saw on the night of the attack despite having taken photos of the dead victims on his phone.
He says: “Still having dreams (not nice ones). Hoping to see a counsellor cause I still have dreams about that night in the Arena. What I seen nobody should have seen.”
In the aftermath of the terror attack Parker tried to play down his “heroic” role, and said: “I’m just a normal guy who ran into the Arena that night all because I heard kids screaming. I had no choice.”
The news of his boasts comes as it emerged his mother Jessica Parker stole almost £4,000 from a lifeboat charity.
The 58-year-old was working as the secretary for the charity in Sea Palling, Norfolk, when she made direct payments to herself.
She has since admitted 10 counts of fraud and will be sentenced at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on May 25.