Manchester Arena attack: Families tell of ‘horror’ at departure of bomber’s brother from UK

Bereaved families of the Manchester Arena terror attack have spoken of their “horror” that Ismail Abedi was allowed to leave the country.

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Lisa Rutherford, mother of 17-year-old Chloe Rutherford from South Shields reading her victim statement at the Old Bailey, London, during the two-day sentencing hearing for Hashem Abedi.
Elizabeth Cook

The elder brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi flew out of the UK a day after he was stopped at the airport by police, the public inquiry into the May 2017 atrocity which killed 22 people has heard.

Officers using counter-terrorism powers interviewed Ismail, 28, for six hours, which caused him to miss his intended flight from Manchester Airport on Saturday August 28.

Electronic items were seized from Ismail and examined before he was allowed to travel 24 hours later, according to his lawyers, and he has not returned to the UK since.

People arrive at the Manchester Arena prior to the We Are Manchester benefit show.
Peter Byrne

He had been called to give “highly important” evidence on Thursday to explain how Salman, 22, and his other younger brother, Hashem, 24 – jailed for life after he aided the plot – became radicalised.

In a statement from 11 of the bereaved families, read outside court by Shane Smith from law firm Slater & Gordon, they said: “We are appalled to learn that Ismail Abedi left the country in August, having been stopped at the airport once before.

“We want to put on record our horror that Ismail Abedi could be allowed to leave the country in the face of an upcoming appearance at a statutory inquiry which he had been ordered to attend.

“We are shocked that this can have been allowed to happen and we note the inquiry are seeking urgent clarification on this.

“Despite professing his innocence and claiming to disassociate himself from radical ideology and terrorism, he consciously chose not to attend today.

“A man who had genuinely rejected extremism would want to help the search for truth and would have been here today. Ismail Abedi is clearly not such a person but has taken the coward’s way out.”