Survivors of Ariana Grande concert attack win British harassment case

LONDON — Two survivors of a deadly suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in northern England in 2017 won a harassment suit Wednesday against a former television producer who claims the attack was a hoax.

Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve have sued Richard Hall for harassment and data protection breaches over his claims in several videos and a book that the Manchester Arena attack that killed 22 people was staged.

The pair suffered life-changing injuries in the attack, carried out by an Islamist extremist in May 2017, which also injured around 100 others.

Martin Hibbert was left paralyzed from the waist down while his daughter Eve, who was 14 years old at the time, suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Hall has claimed that his actions – including an incident in which Eve Hibbert was filmed outside her home – were in the public interest and that “millions of people bought a lie” about the attack.

The High Court in London, described as an independent journalist and broadcaster, noted that he had alleged that “elements within the state and involving ordinary citizens (including the claimants)” took part in the “fraud”.

He has maintained that they acted as “crisis actors” and that “no one was injured or died,” the court heard.

In a 63-page judgment, Judge Karen Steyn found that Hall had harassed the Hibberts with his ‘false story’, but chose not to rule on the data protection claim at this stage.

Steyn said Hall had “abused media freedom” to make his claims for “commercial gain… sufficient to enable him to continue his work”.

“Over a period of years, he repeatedly published false allegations based on the flimsiest analytical techniques, dismissing the obvious, tragic reality that so many ordinary people have testified to,” the judge wrote.

“All of these behaviors have a natural tendency to cause serious suffering, especially when the targets are vulnerable.”

It will invite lawyers from both parties to submit “further submissions” before deciding on appropriate “waiver” and on the data protection claim.

The suicide bombing, as concertgoers left the show at the Manchester Arena in northwest England, was carried out by 22-year-old Salman Abedi, who was from Manchester but of Libyan descent.

Inspired by the Islamic State group, he used a homemade shrapnel bomb to target crowds of mainly young people who had attended the US pop star’s concert, as well as parents picking up their children.