UNITED IN PAIN
KILLER Salman Abedi on night of attack
BY LOUIE SMITH MANCHESTER Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi was yesterday jailed for life with a record minimum term of 55 years.
Abedi, now 23, has already spent almost three years in custody and will be 75 when he first becomes eligible for parole.
There were audible gasps in the Old Bailey from families of his victims when the sentence was read out by the judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker.
It is the longest life sentence minimum tariff ever given in British criminal history.
For the second day running, Abedi – who helped suicide bomber brother Salman, 22, plan the attack – refused to come into the dock.
But Judge Baker ordered that a copy of his sentencing remarks should be served on the murderer in his cell in the court building.
The judge said: “The stark reality is that these were atrocious crimes – large in scale, deadly in their intent, appalling in their consequences.”
The judge said “extraordinary individuals” had died or seen their lives blighted as a result of Abedi’s actions.
He ruled an aggravating factor of the case was that over half of the 22 who lost their lives on May 22, 2017, were children.
The judge said he was satisfied it was the brothers’ intention to target this age group, “an aim in which they tragically succeeded”.
Abedi learned skills while training as an electrician which were said to have been key to making the bomb.
He was in Libya when Salman detonated the device, which was packed with nuts, bolts and scraps of metal, as a huge crowd left a concert by US singer Ariana Grande.
Besides the 22 dead, hundreds were injured. Yesterday, further victim statements from those caught up in the blast were read out in court.
Many told of being haunted by guilt and shame that they could not protect their children or save lives. But Judge Baker told them: “I hope over time they come to accept that the only individual who should have those feelings is the defendant.” Earlier the judge had praised “the tremendous dignity and courage” of everyone who attended the trial during the trial and sentencing.
Scots victim Eilidh MacLeod, 15
Mums Caroline Curry and Lisa Rutherford, who lost children Liam, 19, and Chloe, 17, cried in the public gallery as the sentence was passed.
In Manchester, Paul Hett, father of victim Martyn Hett, 29, described Abedi as a “coward” who was not “man enough” to come to court.
The parents of Scots victim Eilidh MacLeod previously told the court of the devastating impact the bombing had on their lives.
Roddy and Marion MacLeod – whose daughter from Barra, was just 14 when she died, said: “Every day, it’s been a struggle for us to maintain our dignity – trying to put one foot in front of the other is the hardest thing in our lives.”
Abedi received 24 concurrent life sentences and will be 55 years before he has a chance of freedom.
The record minimum tariff is above that of Soho nail bomber David Copeland, who got 50 years, and Soham double child killer Ian Huntley, who received 40. Abedi was ineligible
EVIL Nuts and bits of metal from bomb for a whole-life tariff because he was under 21 when he helped carry out the attack.
But Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: “I and many colleagues would like to have seen him receive a whole life tariff. Nevertheless, he is going to spend a considerable part of his life in jail, where he belongs.”
Hopkins added that the investigation into the attack is still live with detectives aiming to quiz “others that are not available in this country”.
An inquiry into the Manchester bombing is due to begin next month.