Judges block bid to hold MI5 to account over Arena bombing

ANGER AS FAMILIES TOLD LEGAL ACTION HAS BEEN BROUGHT 'TOO LATE'

- PAUL BRITTON

MORE than 300 people affected by the Manchester Arena bombing cannot continue their legal action against MI5, judges at a specialist tribunal have ruled.

Survivors and people bereaved by the 2017 terror attack brought a case to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) against the security services, claiming at a hearing earlier this month that the failure to take 'appropriate measures' to prevent the atrocity infringed their human rights.

But in a ruling yesterday, Lord Justice Singh and Mrs Justice Farbey said the cases could not proceed as they were brought too late.

Lord Justice Singh said: "We are particularly conscious of the importance of the rights concerned... We are also conscious of the horrendous impact of the atrocity on the claimants and their families.