Survivors of Manchester Arena attack set to get millions in compensation
A civil claim for tens of millions of pounds has been settled
A judge has ruled almost £20 million is to be paid out to children injured in the Manchester Arena bombing.
Amounts ranging from £11.4 million to £2,770 were agreed at a hearing on Thursday at the Manchester Civil Courts of Justice, for 16 youngsters, all aged under 16 at the time of the attack, with the total amount to be paid coming to £19,928,150.
Some suffered "catastrophic" and life changing injuries, others suffered psychological damage from witnessing the carnage after suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated his homemade, shrapnel-packed, backpack bomb surrounded by youngsters leaving the arena after an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 2017.
Twenty-two people were murdered and hundreds injured.
The claims were made against and will be paid by the defendants in the case, those responsible for the safe and secure running of the arena event; SMG Europe Holdings, who managed the venue; Showsec International Ltd, responsible for crowd management; and British Transport Police (BTP) and Greater Manchester Police (GMP), responsible for policing the area.
A public inquiry into the bombing, led by Sir John Saunders, found that chances to stop the attack had been missed along with "serious shortcomings" in security and individual failings.
On Thursday, Judge Nigel Bird, approved the 16 claims, agreed between their lawyers and the defendants, as they all involved children or those without mental capacity. A court order bans identifying any of the 16 or their families.
It is understood following the hearing, claims by another 352 people, all adults deemed to have capacity, including the families of the 22 who lost loved ones, will now be agreed between lawyers for the defendants and the claimants.
As those agreements have been made out-of-court, no details of any public money to be paid out by the public bodies, BTP and GMP, have been made public.
Each of the four organisations has apologised to the bereaved families and to the survivors, lawyers for the claimants said, and have acknowledged their failures.
Judge Bird told the hearing: "Each of these cases has a common link, that is injuries and loss suffered, arising out of a single and unimaginable act of terrorism committed on the evening of May 22 2017 at the end of a concert attended by very many young people and their families.
"Twenty-two innocent lives were lost and and the lives of countless others impacted.
"The love and care a parent gives to an injured child is beyond monetary value."
Judge Bird paid tribute to the "courage, dedication and fortitude" of the families involved in each case, adding: "Each through their quiet determination has brought about promises of change in the hope that in the future, other families need not go through what they have been through."
After the hearing, a joint statement was issued from the legal teams at Hudgell Solicitors, Slater & Gordon and Broudie Jackson Canter, the three lead firms representing the claimants.
The statement said: "This is not a day of celebration. It is a moment to acknowledge the mistakes that were made and the unimaginable suffering our clients have endured over the past eight and a half years.
"Their strength and resilience have been extraordinary, and without that, we would not have reached this settlement.
"We now expect all parties to honour their commitment to do what they can to prevent those same mistakes from happening again. It has been a privilege to work on behalf of our courageous clients. We wish them only peace and strength as they look to the future."
Martyn's Law, named in memory of Martyn Hett, 29, murdered in the attack, has since been brought in, to better protect public venues from terror attacks.
The public inquiry found a series of "missed opportunities" to spot and stop suicide bomber Abedi.
Abedi, 22, dressed all in black and carrying a huge backpack containing his bomb, should have been identified as a threat and action taken sooner, after he was reported as suspicious by a member of the public, who was "fobbed off".
The Arena area also had a CCTV "blind spot", patrols of the area by security staff were not adequate and BTP officers took a two-hour lunch break to get a kebab before the attack.