Manchester’s ‘homeless hero stole from victim’

A HOMELESS man hailed as a hero in the wake of the Manchester terror attack has been charged with stealing a bank card from a female survivor on the night of the atrocity.

More than £50,000 was raised to help Chris Parker, pictured, turn his life around after he was seen helping the injured after the bombing at an Ariana Grande pop concert on May 22. The 33-year-old reportedly cradled a dying woman.

But last night Greater Manchester Police said he had been charged with two counts of theft and will appear at Manchester and Salford magistrates’ court today. Parker reportedly stole the card from Pauline Healey as she lay injured following the blast. Mrs Healey was left in a coma for several days. Her 14-yearold granddaughter Sorrell Leczkowski was killed in the bombing, and her daughter Samantha was also seriously injured.

A police spokesman said: ‘The charges relate to a bank card being stolen from the Manchester Arena on the evening of May 22, 2017.’

Parker had been in the foyer of the arena, where he was said to regularly go to beg after concerts, when Salman Abedi blew himself up, killing 22 people.

Speaking a fortnight after the attack, Parker said: ‘I’m supposed to be a hero but I’m not a hero, just a normal guy, a normal regular guy.’

Referring to the moment he helped a victim, he said: ‘She was in her 60s and said she had been with her family. I haven’t stopped crying. The most shocking part of it is that it was a kids’ concert.’

It came as families of the victims were last night told they would receive £250,000 from public donations for each life lost in the atrocity.

Those bereaved have already been able to claim £70,000 from the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

The charity’s trustees have now announced victims’ families will be eligible for a further £180,000.

The latest round of payments will mean more than half of the £18million raised will have been distributed, including £3.5million to those who were injured.