Police 'far better prepared' for terror attacks

TOP COP TELLS ARENA BOMB INQUIRY FORCE HAS LEARNED LESSONS

- JOHN EERHOUT

THE deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester Police has told a public inquiry the force has learned lessons from its failures at the 2017 terror attack at Manchester Arena.

Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods said the attack was now 'in the DNA' of the force, but it was now 'far better prepared' since changes introduced by him and Chief Constable Stephen Watson.

The inquiry has found a series of failings in three damning reports in the wake of the May 2017 terror attack. Suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed himself and 22 innocents when he detonated a huge improvised device in his backpack as concertgoers were leaving an Ariana Grande gig.

The first of three inquiry reports, published in June 2021 by inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders, found 'serious shortcomings' by the venue's owners SMG, their security contractor Showsec and British Transport Police (BTP). Sir John ruled the terrorist should have been identified that night and, had he been, 'the loss of life and injury is highly likely to have been less, a conclusion that angered families of those who died.