FAMILIES of the Manchester Arena bomb victims said justice had prevailed when the “cowardly” mastermind of the atrocity was jailed for at least 55 years at the Old Bailey yesterday.
The loved ones of the 22 men, women and children killed on May 22, 2017 – including those of Eilidh Macleod from Barra, who was 14 – wept and embraced as Hashem Abedi was sentenced in his absence as he again refused to leave his cell.
Abedi’s brother Salman detonated a suicide bomb at the Manchester Arena just after an Ariana Grande concert.
Dozens of family members either sat in Court Two of the Old Bailey or watched over live-link from Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds and Newcastle.
Speaking in Manchester, Paul Hett, the father of victim Martyn Hett, 29, said: “First of all we have spent two days listening to harrowing details of lives that have been shattered, not just the 22, but hundreds of lives changed forever.”
Abedi is a “coward” and not even “man enough” to come to court to hear how he had affected them, he said.
Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Hett’s mother Figen Murray said the sentence had “reaffirmed to us that the British justice system is strong and fair and punishes those who break the law”.
She added: “Although our lives have been deeply affected by what happened, we can now at least put the trial behind us and mentally prepare ourselves for the public inquiry that is starting soon.”
Mark Rutherford, on behalf of the families of his daughter Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19, thanked the judge for “imposing the biggest sentence ever in these circumstances”.
The family of victim Kelly Brewster, 32, said: “His sentence will never compare to the sentence we have to live for the rest of our lives without Kelly.”
They welcomed the start of the public inquiry next month.
Victoria Higgins, lawyer for Slater and Gordon and acting on behalf of the families of 12 victims, hailed the “end of one chapter for those affected by this terrible atrocity”.
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