Arena bomb victim’s fury over ‘hoax’ conspiracies
MORE than five years on from the terrorist attack which took the lives of 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, Martin Hibbert’s daughter, Eve, still spends two days a week in hospital.
Mr Hibbert, 45, was standing with Eve, then 14, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest shortly after 10pm on May 22, 2017 in the foyer of the Manchester Arena.
He suffered 22 shrapnel wounds, including one that severed his spinal cord, as he attempted to shield Eve from the blast. But one bolt struck her in the head, causing a significant brain injury that he compared to ‘being shot in the head.’
Martin requires the use of a wheelchair and Eve, who has just turned 20, has a complex range of injuries which mean she still has to visit Salford Royal Hospital regularly.
Like many people who witnessed the atrocity that night, Martin and his daughter have spent years attempting to overcome the emotional impact of the blast.
But victims like Martin say they have now come under attack from conspiracy theorists who claim that UK terror attacks, such as the Manchester Arena bombing, were in fact staged.
It comes after a BBC investigation which revealed how one theorist, based in Wales, had even visited victims’ homes, setting up cameras in an attempt to prove they had lied about their injuries.
According to a Panorama report, which aired last night, a man named Richard D Hall described how he physically tracked down survivors of the attack – including Martin’s daughter Eve – to determine if it was faked.
In a video posted on his website, Mr Hall admitted spying on Eve from a vehicle parked outside her home, and said he had made ‘door-to-door enquiries’ to peddle his theory.
A survey highlighted how some members of the public believed some of the theories being pushed by trolls.
Research carried out by King’s College London revealed that out of 4,000 people, weighted to be representative of the UK population, 14 per cent believe the 2017 Manchester Arena attack probably involved ‘crisis actors’ who pretended to be injured.
Mr Hibbert told the M.E.N.: “I have known about this guy for about four years – I think he has taken a liking to me when I have been on the TV.
“He says things like I’m not disabled and that I wasn’t actually in the attack.
“I didn’t take him seriously until last year when police said they were going to see Eve and they asked me if I knew a man called Richard Hall. I didn’t know his name at the time.
“He had posted a video saying he had set up cameras outside her house. That’s when I took it a bit seriously. I wondered how far he was willing to go to back up this story.”
In a video defending his actions, Mr Hall said he did not hide or install a camera outside anyone’s home, but admitted leaving a camera rolling in his vehicle ‘while parked in a public place.’
On his website, there is an option to donate via card or Bitcoin. He also reportedly has a market stall where he sells his book and film about his ‘investigation’ into the Manchester Arena attack.
Mr Hibbert, who featured in the BBC investigation, says he has instructed his legal team to bring libel action against Mr Hall, and has vowed to ‘shut him down.’
“I am all for freedom of speech but when you start door stopping people asking to see people’s disabilities and injuries it goes too far,” he said. “He is profiting from other people’s suffering and I won’t have it.”
The latest investigation comes after an American conspiracy theorist was ordered to pay millions of pounds in damages after falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.
Alex Jones will pay $965m (£869m) to the families of eight victims and an FBI agent who responded to the attack – which left 20 children and six adults dead – following a defamation trial in Connecticut.
Mr Burnham said he was deeply concerned by the findings of the BBC investigation as he called for laws preventing people from denying ‘historical events.’
He said: “I think this should be a criminal offence. It is not about freedom of speech to deny historical events that caused serious harm. In parliament this needs to be addressed before this goes further.”