Arrest warrant issued for Arena bomber's brother

An arrest warrant has been issued for the Manchester Arena attacker's brother.

Ismail Abedi was convicted in July of failing to appear at the Manchester Arena Inquiry after being ordered to give evidence.

He refused to answer questions for fear of incriminating himself and fled the UK.

He is the elder brother of Salman Abedi, who killed 22 people and injured hundreds in the attack on 22 May 2017.

Their other brother, Hashem Abedi, was jailed in August 2020 after being convicted of murdering all those who died. He had helped plan the attack.

The chairman of the public inquiry, Sir John Saunders had demanded Ismail Abedi appear at the hearing.

Ismail Abedi was asked to provide a witness statement in May 2020 but, in July the same year, he responded in writing that he would not provide a witness statement, due to the risk of self-incrimination.

After being told that failure to comply was a criminal offence, he replied that he did not wish to answer the questions.

The inquiry pointed out that privilege against self-incrimination could only ever be claimed on a question-by-question basis, not in blanket form.

Abedi also asked for immunity from prosecution from the attorney general before he would agree to give evidence. However the request was refused by the inquiry chair.

Abedi was required, in a formal notice, to attend the inquiry on 21 October 2021, but he did not.

He was convicted of failing to comply with a legal notice to attend the inquiry as a witness.

District Judge Jack McGarva said he was "satisfied beyond reasonable doubt" Abedi had "no reasonable excuse for not attending" and that he was "guilty of the offence as charged".

The judge continued to say that he was satisfied that Abedi was aware of the hearing and also highlighted that the proceedings had had a "great deal of publicity".

The judge then issued a warrant without bail.

If convicted, Abedi faces a jail term of up to 51 weeks for the offence.