Manchester Arena attack conspiracist ordered to pay £45k

A conspiracist who claimed the Manchester Arena bombing attack was staged has been ordered to pay £45,000 in damages.

Two survivors of the attack, which killed 22 people, have been awarded damages of £22,500 each against former TV producer, Richard Hall.

Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve, of Chorley, sued Hall for harassment and they won the case last month.

Mr Hibbert was left with a spinal cord injury and Ms Hibbert suffered severe brain damage as a result of the bombing.

Hall had told the court his actions, which included filming Eve outside her home, were in the public interest as a journalist and claimed "millions of people" had "bought a lie" about the attack.

As well as those who died, hundreds of people were injured in the attack when Salman Abedi detonated a homemade rucksack-bomb in the foyer of the venue as thousands of people left an Ariana Grande concert.

Mrs Justice Steyn declined to award aggravated damages.

She said Hall’s account was “preposterous and untrue” but she accepted he continued to believe it was true.

She said both father and daughter were vulnerable and the harassment had been prolonged.

She also imposed an injunction on Hall, aimed at stopping him harassing the Hibberts in future, and ordered him to pay 90% of the Hibberts' legal costs.