Hundreds of survivors of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing have filed a lawsuit against Britain’s government intelligence agency MI5, their lawyers said.
Three leading firms — Hudgell Solicitors, Slater & Gordon and Broudie Jackson Canter — said in a statement on Sunday that they represented more than 250 victims of the bombing and family members of the dead and filed a class action claim at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. , an independent judicial body that hears complaints against Britain’s intelligence services.
“As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are unable or unwilling to provide further details or comment further at this stage,” the group’s statement said.
The lawsuit comes a year after an independent public inquiry found that MI5, the domestic security agency, failed to act on two pieces of critical information about the bomber that could have prevented the atrocity.
It appears to be the first time MI5 has been sued over its failure to prevent a terrorist attack, a maneuver that is sure to be legally and bureaucratically complicated if the court accepts the case.
Holding security services accountable for failures is notoriously difficult. The families of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in America have been trying for two decades, as part of a lawsuit against the government of Saudi Arabia, to obtain more information about the actions of the FBI and CIA that led to the tragedy, with little success.
Twenty-two people were killed in the attack on May 22, 2017, in which a suicide bomber detonated a powerful improvised explosive device near the exit of the Manchester Arena as crowds of people were leaving an Ariana Grande concert. Hundreds more were injured. It was the deadliest terror attack in the UK in over a decade.
Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the bombing, which was carried out by Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old follower of the terror group who had returned to the UK from Libya four days before the attack. Shortly after his return, he picked up an explosive device that had been stored in a vehicle in Manchester.
The independent public inquiry found in 2023 that the bombing was a “significant missed opportunity” for Britain’s domestic intelligence services, which the report said could have intercepted Mr Abedi if he had acted more quickly after his return. from Libya. The agency, the report said, failed to act on two key pieces of information related to Mr. Abedi that could have offered a “realistic possibility” of preventing the attack, although it did not specify what that information was.
“I deeply regret that such information was not obtained,” Ken McCallum, director of MI5, said at the time. “Gathering classified information is difficult – but if we had been able to take advantage of the small opportunity we had, those affected might not have experienced such terrible loss and trauma.” He added that he was “deeply sorry”.
The lawsuit announced this weekend was filed at the UK’s court of inquiry, the independent judicial body that handles complaints about the country’s security services. Among other things, the panel can assess culpability, issue orders and award damages.
The Court could not immediately be reached for comment. Asked if MI5 had any comment on the lawsuit, the Home Office pointed to Mr McCallum’s statement about the independent inquiry released last year.