British police apologise for risking delay to Manchester Arena terror attack inquiry

Police miss deadline in submitting statements from officers covering the bombing which killed 22 people

Police outside the Manchester Arena, which has a capacity of 21,000. Dave Thompson / Getty Images

A hearing into the Manchester Arena terror attack has criticised police for causing delays.

It led to Greater Manchester Police apologising to the victims' families at the preliminary hearing on Friday.

The force has been accused of missing a deadline to provide statements from officers in command on the night of the attack in which 22 people died.

Suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people and injured hundreds more as they left an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in May 2017.

The public inquiry into the attack is due to begin on 6 April 2020.

However, a preliminary hearing has been told police have failed to meet a deadline to submit statements and have submitted incomplete recordings of police radio transmissions.

Out of 12 organisations asked to submit statements, the force is the only one which has failed to have done so.

Chairman of the public inquiry, Sir John Saunders, told the police it was "simply not fair to the families or to Manchester in general" and warned there would be "extremely extensive public criticism" made of them.

The force's barrister Fiona Barton QC apologised to the families for the delay.

On behalf of the families, their lawyer Peter Weatherby QC said it was "frankly not good enough".

The force claims the delay is due to the large number of officers who were on duty at the time and process of retrieving the audio recordings is continuing.

The brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, Hashem Abedi, has pleaded not guilty to 22 murder charges related to those who died in the attack.

He is due to go on trial on January 13 at the Old Bailey in London.