The Manchester Arena bombing was staged
| The Manchester Arena bombing was staged | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "The 2017 Manchester Arena bombing was a hoax staged by the authorities, with no real victims." | |
| Domain | Crime & Public Safety |
| Tactic | Conspiracy Theory |
| Era | Current |
| First seen | 2020 |
| Origin | Books, videos and talks by Richard D. Hall, including Manchester: The Night of the Bang (2020) |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-30 |
| Further reading: books on Crime & Public Safety | |
On May 22, 2017, suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device in the foyer of Manchester Arena as fans left an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people, including children, and injuring hundreds. His brother Hashem Abedi was convicted of murder in 2020.
Richard D. Hall, a self-described independent journalist, claimed in a book and videos that the attack was staged and that victims were faking injuries. He tracked and filmed survivors to support his theory.
What the evidence shows
- Public inquiry. The Manchester Arena Inquiry, chaired by Sir John Saunders, examined the attack in detail from 2020 to 2023, including medical evidence for each victim who died.
- Court ruling. Survivors Martin Hibbert, who was paralyzed in the attack, and his daughter Eve, who suffered a severe brain injury, sued Hall. In February 2024 the High Court called his claim that the bombing was staged "absurd" and refused to let him rely on it.
- Harassment found. In October 2024 the High Court ruled that Hall's conduct, including filming and publishing material about Eve, amounted to harassment and misuse of private information.
Why it matters
The case is one of the first in the UK where survivors won in court against a person who claimed their attack was fake. It shows the real harm of denying a terrorist attack.
Gaslighting Claiming injured survivors were faking, and filming them to "prove" it, is gaslighting of victims; the UK High Court found it amounted to harassment. The word comes from Patrick Hamilton's 1938 play Gas Light and the 1944 film Gaslight, in which a husband dims the gas lamps and insists his wife is imagining it. Where the word comes from · More gaslighting cases
Sources
- Manchester Arena Inquiry, final reports, 2021–2023.
- Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, Hibbert v Hall, press summary, October 2024.
- ITV News, "Claim that Manchester Arena bombing was staged is absurd, judge rules," February 8, 2024.