ISIS terrorist ‘was allowed to slip through net’ to kill 22 including girl, 8, in Manchester bombing, inquiry finds
MANCHESTER bomber Salman Abedi was free to kill 22 people after MI5 let him slip through the net, a damning report has found.
The terrorist murdered innocent children and adults and left hundreds of others injured at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017.
PASecurity services missed chances to snare Manchester bomber Salman Abedi[/caption]
The 22 victims of the Manchester bomb blastAbedi is seen in Manchester Arena wearing the rucksack bomb moments before the attack
Abedi also died in the horrific attack, while his ISIS fanatic brother Hashem was later jailed for life for his “integral role” in the atrocity.
A third and final report following a two-and-a-half year judge-led investigation into the attack was released today.
It revealed how MI5 missed a “significant” opportunity to act over a key piece of intelligence that could have prevented the bombing.
The 226-page report also described Abedi as like “a Petri dish brimming with germs” after his parents fled to Libya leaving him home alone and exposed to extremist figures.
It also found Abedi should have been put on the anti-terror Prevent programme in 2015 and 2016.
The homegrown terrorist was also flagged to MI5 on three separate occasions amid fears he was mixing with terror suspects.
But the intelligence about the warped jihadi was treated as “non-terrorist criminality”.
MI5 said in hindsight, the significance of the information was not fully appreciated at the time.
Abedi later was able to carry out the deadliest terror attack in Britain since 7/7 undetected.
It comes after the public inquiry also heard damning evidence of failings by the police, fire brigade and ambulance service in the immediate aftermath of the bombing.
Chairman Sir John Saunders concluded these errors could have cost two victims their lives after an “interminable” wait for treatment.
Abedi and his brother spent months hatching the bloodbath.
The pair flew back to Libya when friends noticed signs they had been radicalised but just days before the attack, Salman Abedi returned to Manchester.
Haunting CCTV caught him skulking around the arena at a Take That gig on a practice run.
Despite being on the radar of security agencies and a recent return from Libya, he was able to assemble a homemade bomb at his flat in Manchester city centre.
Abedi was caught in chilling CCTV images with a rucksack packed with thousands of nuts just 19 seconds before the deadly blast.
He had waited for around an hour in the Manchester Arena foyer before parents and children left the gig at 10.30pm.
One minute later, he detonated the bomb as 359 people stood in the City Room – with 19 declared dead at the scene.
The youngest victim, Saffie-Rose Roussos, eight, suffered more than 70 external injuries, with 17 metal nuts in her body, and died from blood loss due to multiple injuries.
Among debris found after the blast were 1,675 nyloc nuts, 156 flanged nuts, 663 plain nuts and 11 fragments from Abedi and his victims.
There were also screws recovered by investigators but they were so damaged they couldn’t be counted.
Abedi’s body was later found in four parts and he had to be identified by his DNA and fingerprints.
His brother was was convicted of 22 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder encompassing the injured survivors, and conspiring with his brother to cause explosions.
Abedi makes his way to Manchester Arena to unleash the deadly attackPAHis brother Hashem Abedi was jailed for his role in the atrocity[/caption]
Pictures show the nuts and screws recovered from the Manchester bomb blastThousands of notes and bolts were recovered from the sceneCharred clothing after the blast tore through the arenaPA22 people were killed and hundreds of others injured in the horror[/caption]