‘Attack at Arena devastated the lives of so many’
POLICE INVESTIGATION INTO ATROCITY REVEALS 800 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LEFT WITH PHYSICAL OR ‘DEEP PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE’ BY THE BOMB
POLICE have revealed that as well as the 22 people who died in the Manchester Arena atrocity, the number who have suffered physical injury or deep psychological damage has risen from 512 to more than 800.
The increase is due to delayed post traumatic stress and depression suffered by people at the scene and family and friends of those affected.
The investigation into the attack, on May 22 last year, has cost £4m so far, financed by the government and a national counter terrorism budget, and 100 officers are still working full-time on the case.
Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, who is seeking the extradition of the younger brother of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber over the attack, says officers are ‘preparing for a trial.’
Hashem Abedi, 21, the younger brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, is a suspect in the case. An arrest warrant was issued for Hashem, who grew up in Fallowfield but was in Libya at the time of the bomb, at the end of October.
Sensitive negotiations are continuing in a bid to extradite him from Libya to the UK.
Mr Jackson has now said the process is in a ‘more advanced position.’
Explaining the investigation, he said: “There are three key elements to it. One is to support the families. The second is supporting the coronial inquest. A third element is a criminal investigation, and this a live investigation, so in terms of are we preparing for a trial, yes we are. It is a live murder investigation, the size and scale of it is enormous, both in terms of the loss of life, and in terms of the injuries sustained by the many hundreds.” If Hashem Abedi is extradited, the inquests of the 22 people who died, which are scheduled for later this year, will be postponed. The Crown Prosecution Service is already actively seeking a ‘stay of proceedings’ from the Coroner. Commenting on the status of Hashem, Mr Jackson said: “He is detained in Libya and he has to go through their legal system.” Asked whether the extradition process had made progress, he said: “It is ongoing. We are grateful to the Libyan authorities.” The scale of the investigation is huge. More than 10,000 tasks have been allocated to staff and officers. 9,600 documents have been created. More than 13,000 exhibits have been seized.
More than 2,000 witness statements have been taken.
More than eight million lines of telephone communications data are within the investigation team’s systems.
So far 23 people have been arrested and 30 addresses searched. No one has yet been charged.
In addition 11,000 tonnes of rubbish was sifted through at a landfill site in Bury as officers hunted for a blue suitcase used by Salman Abedi. It has not been found.
Salman Abedi visited convicted terrorist Abdalraouf Abdullah at Altcourse prison in Liverpool twice two months before the Arena attack.
Abdullah, a Libyan refugee, from Moss Side, Manchester, is serving a five-and-a-half year sentence after being found guilty in 2016 of assisting others in preparation, commission or assisting acts of terrorism and funding terrorism.
Those visits have formed part of the investigation.
Mr Jackson said: “We have a really deep understanding of the events, not only from when Abedi landed in the UK and May 22.
“We have a deep understanding around the events that happened and motivations.
“This is a really difficult investigation, officers painstakingly working through the CCTV.
“That’s very difficult, so we have to build a careful process round that, where we enforce them having breaks.
“We make sure there is lots of welfare in place.
“We have staff working through lots of exhibits, working full time on repatriating items that were discarded at the scene by the victims.
“We have had two staff just working on that alone. We think that has been exactly the right thing to do - people are really grateful.
“This is around not just people who died, it is around other people who are deeply traumatised, who thought they would never see that phone again, that item that was very dear to them.
“You can’t help but be affected by this. Police officers are not immune to that feeling, they are closer to it.
“I wasn’t at that scene, but I watched that footage... what happened was truly awful.
“I’m deeply proud and privileged to be part of CTU (Counter-Terror Unit) policing and the case we are building.
“The events of May 22 will forever be etched into the history of Manchester. The attack caused huge loss of life and devastated the lives of so many.
“We knew quickly that 22 people had been murdered and we now know that there are over 800 people with physical and deep psychological injuries from the attack. Their lives have been altered forever.
“Over the past year, the investigation team has worked hard to support those affected and we are consistently moved by the grace and dignity they show in trying to repair their lives.
“Of course for many, the loss is too great for them to ever make a full recovery from this terrible event.
“After the initial surge of officers we
The events of May 22 will forever be etched into the history of Manchester ACC Russ Jackson
We now know there are over 800 people with physical and psychological injuries from the attack Mr Jackson
had during the first few weeks, we have since sustained a team of around 100 investigators working full-time on this investigation.
“They have been interviewing witnesses, painstakingly working through thousands of hours of CCTV, considering forensic material and piecing together evidence.
“We have applied for, and been granted, a warrant of arrest for the brother of Salman Abedi, Hashem Abedi.
“The warrant was issued by a Manchester court to produce Hashem Abedi at Westminster Magistrates Court, which is standard procedure in terrorism and extradition cases.
“In addition, extradition has been applied for.
“It is because of this that it is really difficult to provide any further detail. Firstly, we must respect the Libyan legal process and we are very grateful to them for considering our request. “Secondly, it is vital the court process is respected in this country and especially the right to a fair trial. “It is because of this we cannot comment on any specific detail of the case. When we can say more, we will of course do so. “In the meantime, we will continue to gather evidence, searching for as much detail about what happened and evidence of anyone responsible whilst supporting the families, many of whom who are going through unimaginable pain.”