Retired judge expected to lead bomb inquests
INQUEST proceedings into the deaths of the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena bombing have been adjourned until October.
A coroner also revealed a retired judge is expected to be appointed to preside over the full inquests.
An appointment has not yet been made, but the judge is expected to be in place by late summer or early autumn.
A pre-inquest review hearing, the second to be held since the inquests were formerly opened and adjourned in June last year, was held yesterday in front of acting senior coroner Fiona Borrill at Manchester Town Hall.
The proceedings were adjourned until Friday, October 5, at the 20 minute-long hearing.
A separate inquest is taking place into the death of bomber Salman Abedi, 22.
He detonated a rucksack bomb in a foyer area of the Manchester Arena on May 22 last year after an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people and injuring many hundreds more.
Ms Borrill said the Chief Coroner has been in discussions with relevant authorities over the appointment of a retired judge with ‘specialist skills and experience’, who would ultimately have to be nominated by the Lord Chief Justice.
The pre-inquest review heard changes to the law would have to be made to allow a retired judge to view and consider sensitive information.
Ms Borrill added that she hoped the hearing in October would be more ‘effective’, with the judge then in place.
She said: “I hope the hearing on October 5 will be a more substantive hearing.”
The hearing was given an update from Greater Manchester Police with regard to efforts to extradite Abedi’s younger brother, Hashem Abedi, from Libya, to face investigation in connection with the atrocity.
He is being held in the country by a militia group, according to earlier reports.
Police revealed in November last year that following a review of evidence by the Crown Prosecution Service, they applied for and were granted a warrant for the arrest of Hashem Abedi.
The CPS then formally requested that Libyan authorities consider his extradition back to the UK.
A general extradition agreement between the UK and Libya has been in place since 2009.
Yesterday’s pre-inquest review was told authorities in this country were ‘doing all they could’ to ‘expedite the extradition process’.
The criminal investigation into the atrocity, meanwhile, was said to be ‘continuing at pace’ with ‘close liaison between police and the CPS’.
Ms Borrill said ‘no assurance has been given’ around a date or period of time for Hashem Abedi’s return to the UK.
The inquest proceedings for the victims could be suspended, should the CPS take the decision to prosecute until the conclusion of criminal proceedings, the hearing was told.