Manchester Arena survivors awarded £45,000 in harassment case against conspiracy theorist

By Henry Moore

Two Manchester Arena bombing survivors have been awarded £45,000 in damages after suing a TV producer who claimed the attack was staged.

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Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve sued Richard Hall for harassment after he claimed the attack was staged and its victims were “crisis actors” in several videos and a book.

The father and daughter suffered life-changing injuries when a shrapnel-filled bomb set off by Islamist terrorist Salman Abedi exploded at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.

Hall claimed his actions, which included filming Ms Hibbert outside her home, were in the public interest and said "millions of people have bought a lie" about the attack.

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In a judgement last month, Mrs Justice Steyn ruled in favour of the father-daughter pair, branding Hall’s actions as "a negligent, indeed reckless, abuse of media freedom".

Andy Burnham on the Manchester Arena

Speaking on Friday, Justice Steyn confirmed Mr Hibbert and his daughter would both be awarded £22,500 in damages.

Hall was also told to pay 90% of the Hibberts' legal costs, which could soar as high as £260,000.

Speaking for the pair, Jonathan Price branded Hall’s actions “oppressive.”

He added: "In a series of widely viewed videos, a print publication, as well as during in-person lectures, the defendant insisted that the terrorist attack in which the claimants were catastrophically injured did not happen and that the claimants were participants or 'crisis actors' in a state-orchestrated hoax, who had repeatedly, publicly and egregiously lied to the public for monetary gain."

Mr Price had originally argued Mr Hibbert and his daughter should be awarded £75,000 in total.

Paul Oakley, for Mr Hall, said in written submissions that £7,500 each in damages "would be appropriate", adding there was "no justification" for aggravated damages.

"There is no allegation of malice and that is really a fundamental point as far as damages are concerned," he told the court.

"Some of these harassment cases can get pretty nasty, but there was no vindictiveness."

Speaking in October, Mr Price said the Manchester bombing had changed Mr Hibbert's life "in every conceivable way".

"They have both suffered life-changing injuries from which they will never recover," the barrister said.

The court heard that Mr Hibbert received 22 wounds from shrapnel, and Miss Hibbert suffered a "catastrophic brain injury" after a bolt from the bomb struck her in the head - leading to her being presumed dead at the scene.

Mr Price added: "Martin, paralysed, saw Eve lying next to him with a hole in her head and assumed he was watching her die, unable to help. He saw others lying dead or injured around him."