Hundreds of victims of the Manchester Arena attack sue MI5 ‘for failing to prevent the attack’

HUNDREDS of victims of the Manchester Arena bombing are suing MI5 over claims it could have prevented the attack.

Around 250 survivors and families of those killed say the intelligence agency violated the Human Rights Act by failing to intervene before terrorist Salman Abedi killed 22 people in 2017.

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Their legal teams have lodged a collective complaint with the court, which considers complaints about the conduct of the intelligence services.

A hearing is likely to take place in early 2025, the Sunday Times reported.

It is the first time survivors have taken MI5 to court over their alleged failure to prevent a domestic terrorist attack.

Andrew Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose was killed, said taking MI5 to court would be the only way to obtain information.

He added: “Salman Abedi should not have arrived in that arena that night.

“There were a lot of missed opportunities.”

Abedi had returned from Libya, where he was fighting alongside Islamic extremists, four days before his suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.

The sick bomber used YouTube videos to learn how to attach chemicals and metal screws to an electrical charge.

An investigation found that MI5 had received two important pieces of information about him months earlier and his current boss, Ken McCallum, later issued an apology.

MI5 director general Ken McCallum said last March that he deeply regretted that the security service had not taken the opportunity to prevent the attack.

The agency declined to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.