Manchester Arena attack survivors win harassment case against conspiracy theorist Richard Hall

23 October 2024, 11:43

Two Manchester Arena bombing survivors have won their harassment case against former television producer Richard Hall.

Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve sued Hall for harassment after he claimed the attack was staged in several videos and a book.

The father and daughter suffered life-changing injuries when a shrapnel-filled bomb set off by Islamist terrorist Salman Abedi exploded at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.

Hall claimed his actions, which included filming Ms Hibbert outside her home, were in the public interest and said "millions of people have bought a lie" about the attack.

Mr Hibbert said today’s verdict as a “comprehensive victory.”

He said: "I am really pleased with not only the overall judgment, but also the many comments of the judge as to how unacceptable Hall's behaviour was.

"It is a comprehensive victory for us.

“I don't want to make much more comment until the final terms of the judgment are agreed in terms of settlements, and hopefully an injunction being imposed.

"However, I do want this to open the door for change, and to help protect others from what we have been put through in the future.

"I will be discussing this with my legal team at Hudgell Solicitors, with the aim of establishing a new law in Eve's name."

Speaking in July, Mr Hall told the court: "The primary evidence shows there was no bomb in that room that exploded."

But, in a 63-page judgment on Wednesday, Mrs Justice Steyn said there was "powerful evidence that Mr Hall's course of conduct caused Mr Hibbert to suffer alarm, distress and anxiety".

Mr Hall has made the shocking claim that many of the 22 victims of Abedi’s attack are living abroad and that no one was “genuinely injured” in the bombing.

But Jonathan Price, for the Hibberts, said the bomb had changed Mr Hibbert's life "in every conceivable way".

"They have both suffered life-changing injuries from which they will never recover," the barrister said.

The court heard that Mr Hibbert received 22 wounds from shrapnel, and Miss Hibbert suffered a "catastrophic brain injury" after a bolt from the bomb struck her in the head - leading to her being presumed dead at the scene.

Mr Price added: "Martin, paralysed, saw Eve lying next to him with a hole in her head and assumed he was watching her die, unable to help. He saw others lying dead or injured around him."