Manchester Arena Inquiry told police failed in response

Three experts told the Manchester Arena Inquiry there had been a ‘significant failure’ in Greater Manchester Police's emergency response to the attack, which killed 22 people on 22 May 2017.

Scott Wilson, Ian Dickinson and Iain Sirrell said GMP failed to work well with other services in the aftermath, citing no evidence of a ‘cohesive and co-ordinated response’.

The inquiry heard there was ‘a breakdown in communication between the different commands, resulting in a lack of direct command and operational confusion’ and the failed GMP response extended to the other emergency services involved.

In a damning assessment, Wilson, a former counter-terrorism commander at Metropolitan Police, said the ‘people who should have been speaking to each other weren't speaking to each other’.