Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi died from blast injuries in the attack which killed 22 people.

Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi died from “blast injuries” in the attack which killed 22 concertgoers before he was identified through DNA after being arrested for shoplifting in 2012, his investigation found today.

The conclusion comes more than six years after a 22-year-old man blew himself up at the end of a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande.

It was published today by Sir John Saunders, who led the long-running public inquiry into the atrocity and acted as coroner in ruling on the circumstances of Abedi’s death.

The documentary investigation took place without any court hearings because none of the victims’ families objected to the arrangement, and numerous “missed opportunities” in the lead-up to the atrocity have already been detailed in its three reports.

Additional reasons for not holding an inquest hearing, which could have been attended by the public and the media, included the risk of “glorifying his act of terrorism.”

Sir John’s findings are that Abedi died from blast injuries at 10.31pm on 22 May 2017 at Manchester Arena. He “died by suicide during the terrorist attack.”

Abedi’s fingerprints matched those obtained during his 2012 shoplifting arrest. When the bomber detonated his device, he was wearing a black long-sleeved top, black Hollister Co. insulation, and dark blue pants.

Some of the families of the 22 victims called on Sir John not to list the cause of death simply as “suicide”, given what he did.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the families in the lawsuits said: “To officially record his death as simply a ‘suicide’ and to exclude all references to his murderous attack would fundamentally fail to record the true circumstances of his death, and would unfairly distort and downplay the true consequences of his death.” . his manner of death.”

Sir John wrote: “The deceased died near the entrance doors to Manchester Arena when he detonated an explosive device he had made with his brother and carried in a backpack to the City Room as part of a planned terrorist attack.

“By detonating the device, the deceased killed 22 innocent victims and injured many others.”

Abedi’s address is given in south Manchester and his occupation is listed as “unemployed”.

Examination of the skin on Abedi’s right arm and leg, as well as his lungs, revealed a “characteristic pattern of blast injuries,” the report said.

His identity was identified using DNA, with a billion to one chance of the remains being the same as Abedi’s.

Mr. Medcalf concludes that “the destruction of the body and the pattern of superficial injuries are entirely consistent with the blast injuries that caused this man’s death.”

“The distribution of injuries is consistent with the bomb being carried on the back at the time of the explosion,” he adds.

Thus, his report dated October 3, 2017, listed Abedi’s cause of death as blast injuries.

Forensic dentist John Rosey also examined Abedi’s remains at the Royal Liverpool Hospital mortuary in June 2017 and compared his teeth with dental records dating back to 2013.

He confirmed “without hesitation” that the remains matched Abedi’s dental records.

Abedi could not wait for the 2016 meeting, his report says.

In addition, a partially damaged bank card issued by Halifax in the name of “Mr. Salman R. Abedi” was found at the scene of the explosion, the report said.

Since Abedi died a violent death, an investigation was deemed necessary by law.

But much of the evidence and circumstances surrounding his death have already been revealed during the long-running public inquiry into the bombing, which concluded earlier this year.

A former High Court judge decided “it would not be in the public interest for the hearing to proceed” for three reasons, his spokesman said today.

“Firstly, the issues to be resolved in the investigation into how Salman Abedi died were examined in detail during the public inquiry.

“Secondly, the coroner recognizes that there is a risk that detailed evidence into the circumstances of Salman Abedi’s death will be presented publicly to glorify his act of terrorism.

“Thirdly, in the light of the inquest’s detailed investigation into the attack, there can be no realistic prospect of disagreement as to the likely outcome and conclusions of the inquest into the death of Salman Abedi and the coroner has therefore considered it appropriate to hold an inquest into the death of Salman Abedi. only papers.

“In all these circumstances the coroner concluded that there was absolutely no need for any hearing and it would be a waste of public money.”

A documentary inquest can only be held if the coroner is of the opinion that a hearing in open court would not serve the public interest.

Abedi, who was born and raised in Manchester, detonated a homemade bomb in his backpack in the Arena’s City Room foyer at the end of a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande.

Hundreds were injured and 22 concertgoers and their relatives died in the explosion, the youngest being eight-year-old Saffie-Rose Roussos.

A public inquiry into the attack found “missed opportunities” to identify Abedi as a threat, both during the years he spent on MI5’s radar and in the minutes before he detonated his shrapnel-filled device.

In his third and final report earlier this year, Sir John concluded that if MI5 had acted on two pieces of intelligence and placed the terrorist under surveillance, they might have uncovered his plan, he said.

A retired High Court judge called it a “significant missed opportunity”.

Sir John stressed that two pieces of information about Abedi in the lead-up to the attack were assessed by MI5 as not related to terrorism – despite him being on their radar for seven years.

At a closed hearing, the spy involved admitted that they believed one of them posed a possible serious national security problem, but did not immediately discuss it with colleagues and did not write a report that same day.

In his 207-page report, Sir John said MI5 did not “act quickly enough” and that the delay “resulted in a missed opportunity to take potentially important investigative steps”.

Abedi was then on a month-long trip to Libya, where Sir John concluded he had received “special training in assembling an IED (improvised explosive device)” – and how to make his bomb “more lethal”.

If the intelligence had been investigated – which Sir John believed “should have happened” – Abedi could have been placed under surveillance upon his return from Libya four days before the bombing, he said.

In addition, spies could have followed Abedi to a car in which he hid a quantity of TATP, known as the “mother of Satan”, the explosive used in the bomb.

If these steps had been taken, he said, “the attack could have been prevented.”

In response, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said he was “deeply sorry” that the atrocity could not be prevented.

But he insisted there was only a “small chance” that officers might have discovered what Abedi was planning.

However, Andrew Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose was among the 22 victims, said evidence from the public inquiry into the bombing showed MI5 had “not a slim chance” but had “multiple chances, transparent chances”. .

Accusing McCallum of “not taking responsibility for his actions”, the 49-year-old said: “Just accept that you messed it up.”

The nature of the information MI5 obtained about Abedi may never be made public because it was discussed in closed hearings.

Detailing how Abedi was indoctrinated by his own family, Sir John said his Libyan parents, Ramadan and Samia, and older brother Ismail, 29, bore “significant responsibility for the radicalization”.

It is now believed that they are all in Libya and have refused to cooperate with the investigation.

Sir John’s first report published in 2021 focused on safety at the Arena that night.

This revealed a number of “missed opportunities” that identified Abedi as a threat shortly before he blew himself up.

His second report, released in November last year, revealed how shocking failures of emergency services led to bomb victims “dying without dignity” and said there was a chance two of them could have survived if they had been more thorough care was provided.

Abedi’s brother, Hashem Abedi, was jailed for a minimum of 55 years in August 2020 for his role in plotting the bombing.