Manchester arena "Homeless hero" pleads guilty to stealing from victims

A homeless man who was hailed a hero in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena terror attack has now admitted to stealing from victims as they lay injured on the floor.

Chris Parker, 33, took the purse of Pauline Healey as her granddaughter Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, from Leeds lay dying yards away.

Parker, now living in Halifax, initially denied two counts of theft and two counts of attempted theft but pleaded guilty earlier today.

The rough sleeper had received global acclaim and was hailed a hero after claiming to have helped comfort injured and dying victims moments after suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated his home-made device.

But CCTV footage told a different story.

Prosecutors said it was clear the defendant provided "some limited assistance'' to people injured at the entrance to the venue's foyer.

But it was the Crown's case that he "equally'' took the opportunity to commit the thefts in the immediate aftermath of the atrocity.

Mrs Healey, along with her granddaughter and Samantha, Sorrell's mother, had gone to the foyer of the Manchester Arena to meet friends and had not themselves attended the Ariana Grande concert.

The grandmother later underwent 15 hours of surgery to remove shrapnel from her body and also suffered multiple compound fractures to her arms and legs, while Sorrell's mother was also seriously injured.

Sorrell, who was a pupil at Allerton High School in Leeds, was hoping to be an architect and wanted to study at Columbia University in New York

His defence lawyer tells the court he apologises for his “appalling behaviour”.

He'll be sentenced on the 30th of January