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A judge has ruled that nearly £20 million will be paid to children injured in the Manchester Arena bombing, which occurred at the conclusion of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017. At a hearing held at the Manchester Civil Courts of Justice, compensation ranging from £2,770 to £11.4 million was agreed for sixteen individuals who were all under the age of 16 when the attack happened. The court was informed that the injuries sustained by some of the victims were “catastrophic” and life-altering, while others experienced profound psychological trauma as a result of the suicide bombing.
The compensation payments will be sourced from four parties: SMG Europe Holdings, the venue management company; Showsec International Ltd, responsible for crowd management; Greater Manchester Police (GMP); and British Transport Police (BTP). The bombing tragically resulted in 22 deaths and left hundreds more wounded. A public inquiry led by Sir John Saunders subsequently uncovered “serious shortcomings” in security and highlighted missed opportunities to prevent the attack. Judge Nigel Bird authorized the sixteen claims due to the vulnerability of the claimants, either because they were children or lacked mental capacity. Importantly, a court order prohibits the identification of these individuals or their families.
Following this hearing, it is expected that the claims of an additional 352 adults who are deemed to have legal capacity—including families of those who lost their lives—will be resolved through agreements between lawyers representing the claimants and defendants. Since these latter agreements are being settled out of court, no details about public funds disbursed by BTP and GMP will be disclosed. All four organisations involved have issued apologies to the bereaved families and survivors, with legal representatives confirming that each acknowledged their failures.
In a statement to the court, Judge Bird reflected on the profound impact of the attack: “Each of these cases has a common link, that is injuries and loss suffered, arising out of a single and unimaginable act of terrorism committed on the evening of May 22 2017… Twenty-two innocent lives were lost and the lives of countless others impacted.” He also praised the resilience and determination of the affected families, saying their efforts have fostered promises of change aimed at preventing similar tragedies in the future. The claimant legal teams echoed this sentiment in a joint statement, emphasizing the extraordinary strength of their clients and urging all parties to uphold their commitments to avoid repeating past errors
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