After submitting an application to join the force after a terrorist supporting ISIS brutally murdered 22 innocent concertgoers, a teaching assistant who survived the Manchester Arena bombing is now a Durham police constable.
After Salman Abedi killed young revellers and injured over 1,000 more at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017, Josh Elliott, 27, made the decision to enter the military.
He and his friends were fortunate to escape the deadly explosions, but Mr. Elliott was so moved by the quick response to the horror that he decided to switch the classroom for the beat. Since then, he has received a promotion to police constable.
It was a terrible situation to be in, according to Mr. Elliott. However, witnessing the officers’ quick thinking and selfless actions to get us to safety just made something click in me.
But witnessing the officers’ quick thinking and selfless actions to get us to safety made something click for me.
“I saw it as a way of making a bad thing into a good thing, and I knew then that I had to go into policing,” the speaker said.
We literally heard a loud bang as we were leaving, and as soon as we saw the smoke, people began to run and scream.
“Nobody knew what was happening.
I just remember thinking it was like an army of police had appeared out of nowhere to get us to safety. There were about 30 or 40 cop cars there.
They were assisting us in leaving and ensuring our safety. They were merely removing us from the danger and the bloodshed.
It’s difficult to explain, but witnessing it all was simply insane. I simply recall experiencing a momentary wave of relief and thinking, “These people are mint, and I would love to be someone like that.”
After Salman Abedi’s older brother fled the UK and declined to testify at a public inquiry, grieving families dubbed him a “coward.”
Ismail Abedi, 29, claimed to be going on vacation when he boarded a flight from Manchester to Istanbul last summer.
He never made it back to the UK, and it is unknown where he is now.
In regards to how he was able to leave the country last year, lawyers for some of the families said they are still “gravely concerned.”
He was found guilty last month of failing to comply with a notice requiring him to cooperate with the investigation into the May 2017 atrocity, in which his brother Salman killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert, and he was ordered to appear at a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on August 2.
Abedi now has a 51-week maximum prison sentence for the offence if he is apprehended or turns himself in, and an arrest warrant has been issued for him.
‘We welcome the arrest warrant that has been issued for Ismail Abedi [on 2 August] and expect all of the relevant authorities to do their utmost to ensure he has to answer the many questions we have about what happened that night,’ said Kim Harrison, principal attorney at Slater and Gordon who represented 11 of the families.
He should not have been allowed to leave the country, and even though he was found guilty, it is unlikely that he will receive real justice until he is found, if at all.
“The families ought to be told the truth about what happened that evening, and Ismail Abedi’s treatment of them is truly abhorrent.
We now anticipate that the authorities will take all necessary steps to prosecute Abedi.
The court was informed by prosecutor Sophie Cartwright QC that notice of the hearing had been sent to Abedi’s last known address.
She added that he also received a message from his previous attorneys and an email to an address he had previously used to communicate with the solicitor regarding the inquiry.
District Judge Jack McGarva noted that the proceedings had received “a great deal of publicity” and expressed his satisfaction that Abedi was aware of the hearing.
He announced: “We will now have to wait for him to be apprehended” after issuing a warrant without posting bail.
Ismail, who worked in IT, was summoned by Sir John Saunders, the head of the subsequent public inquiry, to appear and testify. He was referred to as a key witness because he would be able to address questions regarding the radicalization of his younger brothers.
The investigation also wanted to question Ismail about a “port stop” in 2015 at Heathrow Airport, where it was discovered that his phone contained a “significant” amount of “very disturbing” material that was described as having a “Islamic State-mindset.”
Given that his DNA was discovered on a hammer in a car used to store the explosives, the inquiry learned that he might have been able to testify regarding the making of the arena bomb.
On August 28 of last year, Ismail was stopped by police at Manchester Airport and informed them he would be coming back to the UK the following month.
He did not, however, show up as a witness, and the inquiry was informed that he had left the country after boarding a flight from Manchester to Istanbul, where he had claimed to be travelling on vacation, and that it is unknown where he is now.
On Thursday, August 4th, he was scheduled for a hearing under the name Ishmale Ben Romdhan.
In May 2017, 22-year-old Salman Abedi detonated a suicide bomb at the conclusion of an Ariana Grande concert.
Hashem Abedi, a third brother, was involved in the bomb plot and was sentenced to life in prison.
After attacking two Belmarsh prison officers in February, he received a second sentence of three years and ten months in prison, but he made the promise that “we will be leaving soon.”
The public inquiry heard that their father, Ramadan Abedi, was connected to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a militia that had ties to the terrorist group al Qaida.
Ramadan, who resides in Libya but has also been uncooperative with the investigation, is being questioned by police as a suspect.