Public inquiry into arena attack: CCTV blind spot where bomber Salman Abedi hid only two months ago

A CCTV blind spot at Manchester Arena where suicide bomber Salman Abedi is believed to have hid before launching his deadly attack more than three years ago in 2017 was only “ rectified ” two months ago, it was said. the public inquiry into the atrocity.

The revelation emerged after it was revealed that Abedi had made three “hostile reconnaissance” trips to the Arena before killing 22 people in a backpack bomb attack.

His “ final journey ” on the night of the attack, May 22, 2017, was also broadcast to the investigation through a collection of CCTV footage collected by cameras around the complex.

Abedi entered the foyer area of ​​the Arena’s City Room at 9.33pm and reached a raised mezzanine.

The investigation found that he remained “off camera” for nearly an hour in the CCTV “blind spot”, before “resurfacing” down the stairs of the “McDonald’s” and into the crowd leaving an Ariana Grande concert.

He detonated the bomb at 10.31 pm.

A witness who testified said the mezzanine blind spot was only “corrected recently … about two months ago”.

Michael Edwards worked as the shift control room operator for SMG Europe Arena operators that night.

When asked when the blind spot was fixed, Mr. Edwards replied that “now it has been corrected” and “now there is a camera”.

Pressed by John Cooper QC, who acts on behalf of a number of the 22 bereaved families, Mr. Edwards said the blind spot was “corrected recently … about two months ago”.

Mr. Cooper said, “Hundreds of shows since this tragedy and just two months ago since SMG corrected this blind spot?”

“Yes,” replied the witness.

SMG said that since the Arena was reopened after the bombings, the way the City Room area is protected has been completely different.

The company said security had “changed and greatly improved” and the City Room area was now “sterile” for events.

Mr. Edwards said that at the time of the atrocity, there were no CCTV cameras permanently fixed in the mezzanine area.

He said a camera could be “rotated” to monitor it, but there was still a section of the area that couldn’t be seen.

When asked how long it was known that there was a CCTV blind spot, Mr. Edwards said “from the moment I started working, it was always a blind spot.”

That was about 14 years ago, it was said at the investigation.

Abedi’s third and final voyage of exploration – the night of the bombing itself and lasting only five minutes – was four hours before the explosion, with the investigation saying he only briefly entered the City Room area. before leaving the Victoria Station complex by taxi.

Abedi returned about two hours later, arriving by tram at 8.30pm.

His “first act”, he heard the investigation, was to sit on a bench on the platform, with his backpack on his back.

The compilation was reproduced for the investigation, showing all his known movements.

Abedi, wearing a cap and dark clothes, then walks along the platform and sits on another bench for three minutes before heading to the station concourse.

With his hands in his pockets, he is shown walking into the station and public restrooms in the station concourse, arriving there at 8:36 pm and leaving at 8:48 pm.

He was shown on CCTV struggling to enter the restrooms using the coin-operated payment system before entering a cubicle.

Abedi spent 11 minutes in the cubicle, the investigation was told, and emerged with “difficulty carrying the backpack”.

The investigation was notified just under a minute after he was gone, two police community support officers entered the same bathroom.

Abedi is then shown climbing the elevator to the City Room.

He fiddles with the bottom of his jacket and puts his cap back on, as CCTV shows.

Abedi then enters the City Room, arriving at 9:51 pm, before heading back to the Victoria tram stop.

He takes the elevator again and has to “prop himself up” due to the weight of the backpack, the investigation was told.

CCTV then shows him walking back to the tram stop platform and sitting down.

He spent 16 minutes there before making his way back to the elevator again, where he was told at the investigation that he “appears to be substantially folded” due to the backpack.

Again “it looks like he’s fixing a thread” under his jacket inside the elevator, the investigation was told.

Abedi entered the City Room at 9.33pm but hid on the mezzanine before detonating the bomb.

The investigation learned that it carried out two previous “ hostile reconnaissance ” missions before May 22, 2017.

His premiere, on May 18th, was before a Take That concert.

He was caught on camera as he walked around the perimeter of the train station and the adjacent Arena complex.

Then he walked into the City Room – and put his hands behind his back as he watched people queue at the box office to enter the concert for a minute or so, he heard the inquest.

Witnesses who believed they saw him were named on the eighteenth day of the investigation on Tuesday.

One was Freya Lewis, who was at the Arena with her friend Nell Jones, 14, who lost her life.

Ms. Lewis said in a statement that she saw a man with a black backpack and they passed him together.

“As soon as Ariana finished the last note of the song, Nell grabbed my hand and said we had to go,” she said.

“We left our seats and exited the block on the left.

“I took out my phone and started texting my dad to tell him I was leaving. Suddenly I saw a giant flash of light surrounding me and I heard a deafening sound.

“I was flabbergasted and landed face down on the floor.”

Abedi’s younger brother Hashem Abedi, now 23, was convicted of 22 counts of murder, one for attempted murder and one for conspiracy to cause an explosion following a trial in March.

In August he was jailed for a minimum of 55 years.

The investigation is investigating the circumstances that led to the deaths of the 22 people in the blast and is expected to continue until spring 2021.