A report by retired High Court judge Sir John Saunders has identified six failings by MI5 and counter-terror police that could have prevented the Manchester Arena terror attack.
The report concluded that security services could have stopped the attack had they acted on two pieces of intelligence and put the bomber, Salman Abedi, under surveillance.
The inquiry was launched in 2020 after the bombing, which occurred on 22 May 2017 after a concert by US pop singer Ariana Grande. The attack killed 22 people and left hundreds injured.
The inquiry found that Abedi’s return from Libya four days before the attack “would have been treated extremely seriously by the Security Service” had officials acted on the intelligence.
Two pieces of crucial intelligence were revealed during 10 days of secret hearings, but have not been made public. Sir John said that had the intelligence been investigated and Abedi, 22, put under surveillance, the attack might have been prevented.
Other failings highlighted in the report included Abedi not being correctly categorised as a formal subject of interest, failing twice to refer Abedi to the Prevent deradicalisation programme, and a failure to analyse over 1,000 text messages exchanged between Abedi and a jailed Manchester Islamic State fanatic in 2014.
The report also noted that the decision to focus on the terror threat from the then-Islamic State ‘caliphate’ in Syria meant that both the Security Service and CTPNW underestimated the risk from Libya in 2017.
Sir John highlighted MI5’s assessment in 2018 to the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, “that had (Abedi) been placed under travel restrictions, there still may not have been sufficient time to identify or act on his attack planning. It would, nevertheless, have provided more of an opportunity.”
The retired judge, whose inquiry began in 2020, said it was “highly likely” that Salman Abedi and his brother Hashem, who assisted in the bomb plot, were radicalised in Libya when taken there by their parents.
The report found that Abedi was radicalised by his family, who were identified as having extremist views, and friends. He had almost no close connections or friendships that would tie him to law-abiding society.
Abedi and his brother were also radicalised by their Islamic extremist father Ramadan Abedi and mother, Samia Tabbal, both now in Libya, mixing with jihadist associates around Manchester, and from being taken to Libya during the country’s civil war.
The inquiry chairman said his recommendations to security services would be published in a confidential document at a later date. He concluded that “there was a significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack.”
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