Mother Of Man Killed In Manchester Arena Attack Insists She Will Not Give In To Hate

28 April 2019, 16:26 | Updated: 28 April 2019, 16:27

The mother of a man who lost his life in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 tells David Lammy that she will not succumb to hate.

Figen Murray, who lost her son in the Manchester terror attack in May 2017, said that seeing a photograph of the terrorist helped her forgive him and move on.

29-year-old Martyn Hett was one of 22 people killed in an explosion at Manchester Arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

Speaking to David Lammy on LBC, Figen said: "I saw his photo and he looked like a young gullible young man and I just felt he must have grown up in an environment that wasn't really conducive or he has somehow, not every terrorist has grown up in bad circumstances.

"But something goes wrong, somehow these people get radicalised at some point in their lives and it's a belief they follow.

"Terrorists have nothing to do with any religious belief even if they may call themselves in the name of some religion."

David, who lost his friend James in the 7/7 attack in London, said "it does pain me" because "it feels like it's getting worse".

He asked: "With the sort of headlines we're seeing today, a synagogue and last week in Sri Lanka, do you get the sense that it's getting worst?"

Figen replied: "I can not succumb to hate and fall down that low so that I lose myself, I need to stay within my own belief system and every event makes me more determined to try and do something about it."

Watch her powerful call in the video above.