Families of 22 victims: ‘Evil will never win’

OLD BAILEY: Emotional outpouring of grief ahead of terrorist’s sentencing

The families of the Manchester Arena bombing have vowed “evil will never win”, as the homegrown terrorist behind the plot refused to face them in court.

Yesterday, the Old Bailey bore witness to an outpouring of grief ahead of the sentencing of Hashem Abedi, younger brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi.

The judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, said the 23-year-old had been brought to the court building from prison, but added he was powerless to drag him into the courtroom.

It was left to family members of the 22 killed and dozens injured in the blast on May 22 2017 to describe how the Abedi brothers’ actions affected their lives.

Harriet Taylor paid tribute to her mother, Jane Tweddle, 51, a school receptionist who lived in Blackpool.

She said in a statement: “We simply will not let evil win. Evil is invisible, it has no face, no heart, no race. But what we have that evil never will have is love.”

Michael Thompson, father of victim Michelle Kiss, 45, from Whalley in Lancashire, said: “We believe there is more good in the world than bad but unfortunately it only takes one bad person to devastate and destroy so many lives.”

The mothers of teenage sweethearts Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry told of their devastation.

Lisa Rutherford said: “As a family we need answers – we are destroyed.”

Ms Rutherford, who was supporting herself on crutches as she read her statement, said her “heart snapped” when she received a telephone call with the news that her 17-year-old daughter had died.

Wiping away tears, she said: “We are lost, we are devastated and we feel an overwhelming loss.”

Caroline Curry held up a photo of 19-year-old Liam and appeared to address some of her comments to the absent Hashem.

She said: “You took from me something more precious than gold, a beautiful boy, inside and out. I want you to look at Liam and remember the beautiful boy that was snatched away.

“Your actions have caused this heartbreak. I just feel cheated. You took his future, my future, my family’s future. All we have now is heartbreak and dreams of what if.”

Hashem was found guilty by a jury in March of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.

The Old Bailey heard that the Islamic State-inspired jihadi helped his brother order, collect and store materials needed for the plot, before the latter blew himself up as thousands of men, women and children left an Ariana Grande concert.

The defendant, who travelled to Libya the month before the bombing, was arrested hours after the attack and was extradited back to Britain last summer.

The judge confirmed that Hashem Abedi cannot be handed a whole-life sentence because he was under the age of 21 at the time of the offences.

However, he could be given multiple life sentences with a minimum starting point of 30 years.

Hashem Abedi, younger brother of the bomber Salman Abedi.