Row over BBC’s ‘inaccurate’ Manchester bombing claims
THE police chief whose force is investigating the Manchester Arena bombing last night lambasted a ‘wholly inaccurate’ BBC documentary broadcast exactly a year after the atrocity which killed 22 innocent people.
Ian Hopkins, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, slammed the hourlong programme, accusing the film-makers of an ‘unwarranted attack’ on his brave officers by wrongly suggesting they were ‘held back’ from the venue.
He also accused the BBC of broadcasting distressing footage which risked further upsetting bereaved families marking the first anniversary of the terrorist outrage and potentially prejudicing any subsequent court case.
And police complained that their requests to see the film before it was broadcast, so they could inform families of its contents, were denied.
Mr Hopkins said the Crown Prosecution Service and coroner had ‘expressed serious reservations’ about it while British Transport Police had withdrawn permission for interviews with its officers to be screened. BTP was approached for comment. But the corporation hit back insisting it had ‘carefully’ considered the sensitivities of everybody affected by the tragic incident.
The documentary, Manchester: The Night of the Bomb, was broadcast on BBC Two to coincide with Tuesday’s first anniversary of Salman Abedi’s terror attack which killed 22 and injured 800.
It featured interviews with survivors as well as officers from BTP who were first on the scene and battled to save injured victims with totally inadequate first aid kits. The documentary ended with a caption reading: ‘Greater Manchester Police declined to take part in this film.’
The force has been investigating the bombing and assisting victims’ families over the past 12 months. In an open letter last night, chief constable Mr Hopkins said: ‘The programme, at least by inference, wrongly suggested that GMP offic- ers and staff were held back on the night of the attack. This is an unwarranted attack on GMP police officers who, as the actual footage showed, acted bravely.’
He highlighted how in the minutes after the blast the force’s duty officer decided to ignore official protocols which dictate that emergency staff should be withdrawn from the scene of an ongoing terrorist attack.
The Kerslake Review into the response to the bombing was highly critical of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. Its officers took two hours to arrive amid a communication breakdown and unfounded fears that terrorists were still on the loose.
Mr Hopkins stressed that a key factor in his force’s decision not to take part in the film had been to avoid prejudicing any trial of Hashem.
The BBC said: ‘The sensitivities of all those involved in this tragic event were subject to careful consideration throughout the production process.’ It added the programme team took ‘considerable care to minimise offence whilst accurately portraying the severity of events’.
‘Unwarranted attack’