‘Realistic possibility’ Manchester Arena attack could have been prevented

Report into atrocity concludes MI5 failure to act on intelligence was ‘significant missed opportunity’ that might have thwarted plot

The failure of MI5 to act swiftly on crucial intelligence was a “significant missed opportunity” to take action that might have prevented the Manchester Arena attack, a long-awaited report on the atrocity has concluded.

Sir John Saunders, the chair of the Manchester Arena inquiry, said there was a “realistic possibility” that investigators could have thwarted the plot had they acted more decisively on two key pieces of evidence in the run-up to the bomb.

Abedi’s return from Libya four days before the blast would have been taken “extremely seriously” by MI5 had key pieces of intelligence been taken more seriously in the months before the blast.

The spy agency could have found Abedi’s homemade device, stored in a car in Manchester, if an investigation begun at this stage. The attack “might have been prevented” if MI5 had found the vehicle.

MI5 failed to share two significant pieces of intelligence with counter-terrorism police in the run-up to the blast, amid what Saunders described as a “communication breakdown” between the agencies.

Abedi’s family holds “significant responsibility” for his extremist beliefs but he should have been referred to the anti-radicalisation scheme, Prevent, up to two years before the attack.

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