More than 50 survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing were not treated with importance until ‘they put their hand up’ and asked for a formal role at the forthcoming public inquiry, a court has heard.
Lawyers for the survivors are bidding to overturn a decision made by inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders not to grant them core participant status at the hearing due to start in Manchester on September 7.
If successful, it would have allowed them to obtain disclosure of evidence in advance, challenge evidence and participate in lines of inquiry.
The survivors, who include a father who was left in a wheelchair and another who was blinded in one eye, say they are ‘living witnesses’ to the 2017 terror attack.
They want to be able to ask questions at the public inquiry which is due to examine the intelligence background and the emergency response on the day.
The survivors include doctors, retired police officers and members of the public who ‘plugged a gap’ in the emergency response as they waited hours for help to arrive, their lawyers say.
Lawyers for the survivors are bidding to overturn a decision made by inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders not to grant them core participant status at the hearing due to start in Manchester on September 7 (pictured, police at the scene of the May 2017 attack)
Sir John explained his April ruling ‘does not mean that the survivors will not have a voice in this inquiry’ as he said their evidence would be ‘important’ and he would aim to ensure any questions are answered.
However, in an application for a judicial review of the decision, Brenda Campbell QC, on behalf of the group of survivors, told the High Court: ‘The survivors have not been important or treated with importance at any point until they put their hand up and asked for core participant status.
Sir John Saunders, the chairman of the public inquiry, ruled not to grant the survivors core participant status at the public inquiry
‘In fact they have not even been contacted, their accounts have not been taken, they have not been interviewed and, we infer from that, in addition experts have been briefed with limited reference to the survivors’ experiences.
‘For example, in relation to the emergency medical response that for a great number of those who unfortunately died, and perhaps mercifully, survivability was not an issue, but these survivors – these claimants – were there. They experienced, they saw, they felt, they heard and they have not been contacted.
‘With the greatest respect, telling someone that they are important witnesses does not make it so in practice.
‘The reality is that they are treated at the very best as very important spectators.’
The mother of a teenager – who was 14 at the time of the blast and was not expected to survive her injuries – said in a witness statement they believed they had been ‘forgotten and ignored’, the court heard.
One young survivor was allegedly covered with a sheet and left for dead, and another spent three and a half hours waiting for emergency services to rescue her while bleeding from her injuries.
The 22 victims of the terror attack during the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017. (top row left to right) Off-duty police officer Elaine McIver, 43, Saffie Roussos, 8, Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, (second row left to right) Nell Jones, 14, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, Megan Hurley, 15, Georgina Callander, 18, (third row left to right), Chloe Rutherford,17, Liam Curry, 19, Courtney Boyle, 19, and Philip Tron, 32, (fourth row left to right) John Atkinson, 26, Martyn Hett, 29, Kelly Brewster, 32, Angelika Klis, 39, (fifth row left to right) Marcin Klis, 42, Michelle Kiss, 45, Alison Howe, 45, and Lisa Lees, 43 (fifth row left to right) Wendy Fawell, 50 and Jane Tweddle, 51
Salman Abedi, responsible for the Manchester terror attack, detonated a nail bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017. The suicide attack killed 22 people
Some remained in hospital for months, many were discharged to round the clock care and others were ‘learning to cope in world they never previously conceived of,’ Brenda Campbell QC, told a hearing this month.
In total, 65 people were seriously injured and another 28 very seriously injured in the suicide bomb attack in the City Room foyer in May 2017, along with the 22 fatalities.
A group of 56 of the survivors was seeking to appear as ‘core participants’ in the inquiry, which has been delayed until September due to coronavirus.
The application is being heard by Dame Victoria Sharp, the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, and Mr Justice Garnham.