Manchester Arena survivors win harassment lawsuit

Two Manchester Arena bombing survivors have won their High Court harassment case against a former television producer turned conspiracy theorist who claimed the attack was staged.

- JESS GLASS

Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve sued Richard Hall for harassment and data protection breaches over his claims that the attack was staged. The father and daughter suffered life-changing injuries at the Ariana Grande concert in May 2017, with Mr Hibbert left with a spinal cord injury and Ms Hibbert suffering severe brain damage.

But Mr Hall has claimed his actions – including an incident of filming Ms Hibbert outside her home – were in the public interest as a journalist, and that “millions of people have bought a lie” about the attack.

In a 63-page judgment yesterday, Mrs Justice Steyn said the Hibberts had won their harassment claim, but said she would not decide the data protection claim at this stage. The judge described Mr Hall’s actions as “a negligent, indeed reckless, abuse of media freedom” and said that the trained engineer is “blinkered in his belief that the false story he has spun is true”.