LONDON (AP) — A father and daughter crippled by a suicide bomber who killed 22 people after an Ariana Grande concert in England in 2017 were awarded 45,000 pounds ($58,000) on Friday in a case against a former television producer who claimed that the tragedy was a hoax. .

Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve last month won their harassment claim at London’s High Court against Richard Hall over videos, a film and a book he produced that falsely claimed the Manchester Arena bombing was staged with actors and that no one was injured or injured.

Hall, an independent producer, claimed that “millions of people have believed a lie” about the attack and defended his work, including the surreptitious filming of the daughter, as public interest journalism.

Judge Karen Steyn called Hall’s conduct a “negligent, even reckless, abuse of press freedom.” He said he used “the flimsiest of analytical techniques” to dismiss “the obvious and tragic reality to which so many ordinary people have witnessed.”

Salman Abedi blew himself up with a bomb hidden in a backpack as fans left Grande’s concert on May 22, 2017. In addition to those killed, more than 260 people were injured and hundreds more were left with “deep psychological injuries.” the police said.

Martin Hibbert was left paralyzed from the waist down and his daughter, who was 14 at the time, nearly died and has severe brain damage.

The Hibberts also won a court order preventing Hall from harassing him further, and Hall will have to pay 90% of his legal costs which are currently estimated at £260,000 ($335,000).

The compensation, however, is meager compared to many obtained in lawsuits in the United States. In a case that also involved denying a major tragedy, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones Ordered to pay $1.5 billion to parents of children murdered in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012 for falsely claiming it was a hoax.

Martin Hibbert said he never expected to see a cent of the prize money, but the victory was not about money.

“It was about taking him down in public, in front of his own supporters, that’s what I’ve done,” he said outside court.

Hall said the trial was unfair and continued to insist that the attack did not occur when he left the court.

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