Hogan Lovells

The security service MI5 missed a significant chance to take action that might have prevented the Manchester Arena attack, an inquiry has found.

Chairman Sir John Saunders said The Intelligence could have led to suicide bomber Salman Abedi being followed to a car where he stored his explosives.

Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds injured in the 2017 bombing.

MI5 director-general Ken Mccallum said he was " profoundly sorry" the security service " did not prevent The Attack ".

" I deeply regret that such intelligence was not obtained, " He Said .

" Gathering covert intelligence is difficult - But had we managed to seize the Slim Chance we had, those impacted might not have experienced such appalling loss and trauma. "

The Inquiry found two pieces of information about Abedi were assessed at The Time by the security service as not being terrorism-related.

But Sir John said, having heard from MI5 witnesses at the hearings, he considered that did not present an " accurate picture".

One officer admitted they considered a possible pressing National Security concern on one of the pieces of intelligence But did not immediately discuss it with colleagues and did not write up a report that same day.

In Sir John said: " The Delay in providing The Report led to The Missing of an opportunity to take a potentially important investigative action.

" Based on everything the security service knew or should have known, I Am satisfied that such an investigative action would have been a proportionate and justified step to take.

" This should have happened. "

But he added that Abedi " demonstrated some security consciousness and that this might have affected the efficacy of the investigative action that I have identified".

Sir John said The Intelligence could have led to Abedi being followed to the parked Nissan Micra where he stored his explosives and later moved them to a city-centre rented flat to assemble his bomb.

He Said that if MI5 had acted on The Intelligence received then Abedi also could have been stopped at Manchester Airport on his return from Libya four days before The Attack .

The Public inquiry also found Abedi was probably assisted by someone in Libya But it was not possible, on the available evidence, to say who this might have been.

It is the First Time an official conclusion has been made about the possible involvement of Other People from abroad.

In making this finding, Sir John contradicts an MI5 assessment which said no-one other than Salman Abedi and his brother Hashem were knowingly involved in The Plot .

The Report also found that Didsbury Mosque in south Manchester, where the Abedi family worshipped, was not an active factor in The Brothers ' radicalisation, But that politicisation did happen there.

Sir John said " there was a form of wilful blindness" to some activities, and " weak leadership".

The Report concluded that the Abedi family held " significant responsibility" for the radicalisation of Salman and Hashem Abedi.

Those Family Members responsible include their father Ramadan Abedi, mother Samia Tabbal and elder brother Ismail Abedi, each of whom has held extremist views, The Inquiry found.

But Sir John said, other than Hashem Abedi, there was insufficient evidence to attribute specific knowledge of The Attack to other Family Members .

He also found that convicted terrorist organiser Abdalraouf Abdallah was a " key figure" in influencing Salman Abedi 's worldview, and that Raphael Hostey , who travelled to Syria from Manchester to join Islamic State and was killed in a Drone Strike , was also likely to have been an influence.

Mansour Al-Anezi, a Muslim preacher from Devon who was close to an earlier attempted suicide bomber, had been a connection of significance for Salman Abedi , The Inquiry found.

Sir John's comments were into the atrocity, which dealt with the radicalisation of Abedi and whether The Attack could have been prevented.

The First volume has been made publicly available while The Second contains material which it is said would be damaging to National Security if made public.

It has only been circulated to a limited readership of people who have security clearance, which does not include the families of those who died, their legal teams, or the media.

The Inquiry process began More Than three years ago, and there were 194 days of oral evidence from 267 witnesses.

A minute's silence was held at Manchester Hall for the 22 victims of The Arena bombing before Sir John Read out his findings

It seems a contradiction of the term " public inquiry" to keep some findings private, But The Chairman says that he had to balance The Principle of open justice with the issue of National Security .

He's added that All private evidence has been scrutinised to make sure that restricting it can't be seen as a " cloak to Cover Up mistakes".

Given that the previous two inquiry reports were highly critical of the private companies and public authorities involved with The Arena and The Emergency response, this document was also expected to be tough on MI5.

Bereaved families and survivors will be pleased that in some areas The Report doesn't pull its punches.

They'll find it upsetting to hear that the security service missed a significant opportunity. But there will also be some frustration that they'll never learn the full detail of exactly what that opportunity involved.

Andrew Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose was killed in the blast, said: " We All heard The Evidence and knew there were failings, But hearing how this tragedy might have been avoided is devastating for us All .

" This Was a cataclysmic failure, and it is clear from All of The Evidence we have heard about Abedi that there were many opportunities for the security services to have ensured the bombing Never Happened .

" In my view the fact that MI5 failed to stop him despite All of the red flags available demonstrates they are not fit to keep us safe and therefore not fit for purpose. "

Richard Scorer , principal lawyer at Slater and Gordon, who represented 11 of the bereaved families at The Inquiry , said The Report had been " deeply painful to read, But also eye-opening".

" On the issue of the preventability of this attack, inevitably The Report provides less information than we would have wanted.

" But it is now very clear that there was a failure to properly assess key intelligence about Salman Abedi ; a failure to put it into proper context, and - Most catastrophic of All - a delay in acting on it.

" As a result of these failures, at the very least, a real possibility of preventing this attack was lost. This is a devastating conclusion for us. "

Helen Boniface, from Law Firm Hogan Lovells , who represented the bereaved families of Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19, said: " We will never forgive the attackers, or those who assisted them, and nor can we forgive those professionals who failed to act appropriately on The Night .

" Indeed, in this volume of The Report , The Chair has recognised that there was a significant missed opportunity by MI5 which, had they taken action, could ultimately have changed The Course of What Happened That Night .

" We hope lessons really will be learnt This Time . It has been five years, Nine Months , One Week And One day since we lost Our Kids . "

Nicola Brook, from Broudie Jackson Canter, which represents five bereaved families, said it was " disappointing that the families will never know the full truth of What Happened ".

" All of the families signed an undertaking not to reveal confidential information which they have not breached.

" They, above All others, are entitled to know what the security services knew and had The Most interest in keeping it confidential. "

Following publication of The Report , MI5 said since The Attack it had made More Than 100 improvements.

" But We Are determined to do more. As The Chair now considers his recommendations, we will engage fully, " said Mr McCallum.

" Where there are opportunities to strengthen the UK's defences further, MI5 will act. "

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she was " committed to working with MI5, policing and partners to study the recommendations".

" Together we will do everything possible to prevent a repeat of this horrifying attack, " she added.

Source of news: bbc.com