Children ‘ bewildered’ by Arena death of after- school club manager

THE DEATH of an after- school club manager from West Yorkshire in the Manchester Arena attack left the children she cared for “bewildered”.

Mother- of- two Wendy Fawell, 50, from Otley, was a “nice and caring person” who loved her job and “tried to mother everyone”, the public inquiry into the May 2017 bombings was told.

She was waiting to collect her daughter in the foyer at the time of the explosion at the end of the Ariane Grande concert. In a pen portrait of her life, her family said the Elvis Presley fan was “the life and soul of the party who had so much to live for”.

Brought up in Rawdon, Leeds, Mrs Fawell first worked with children at a pre- school nursery in Yeadon, went on to be a dinner lady and later a manager at Eye Spy out- of- school club in Guiseley, where she looked after older children.

Mrs Fawell’s father Michael, who died 11 months after his daughter, never got over her death, the hearing in Manchester was told. Her mother, Julia, said: “It was double heartache for me when I lost Michael. I like to think he is with her now doing what he always did – looking after her.”

Meanwhile the father of the youngest victim of the bombing said lessons “should have been already been learnt and in place” after the 7/ 7 and 9/ 11 terror attacks.

Andrew Roussos said the life of his eight- year- old daughter, SaffieRose, was “not a practice exercise” for the security services and emergency services.

Referring to a mock terror attack staged in the Arena foyer the year before, he said afterwards: “Why have these exercises? Ticking boxes? I’m sorry, but Saffie is not a tick to box.”

Mr Roussos also repeated his call to have lawyers representing the families sit in at the closed hearings of the inquiry when national security issues are discussed. The hearing continues.