Manchester Arena victims hit out at ‘disgusting’ move to give bomber almost £200,000 in legal aid
MANCHESTER Arena victims hit out at a “disgusting” move to give almost £200,000 in legal aid to terrorist Hashem Abedi.
Taxpayers funded the convicted 22-year-old Libyan’s defence even though he sacked his legal team and refused to take part in the court process.
Victims’ families had to fill in a 17-page application for state aid for the inquest into the bloodbath at an Ariana Grande gig in 2017.
They were only granted Home Office help when it was turned into a public inquiry earlier this year.
Extradited Abedi — who plotted with his suicide bomber brother Salman, 22, — is awaiting sentence for 22 murders.
He got £187,845 in Legal Aid.
The prosecution cost £284,500.
Jade Clough, 32, who was caught in the blast with nephew Jason, said: “Why do the victims have to beg to get some money while he got all this help, that he didn’t want, for free.
“It’s disgusting. It just makes me so angry.”
Solicitor Shane Smith said: “Before this became an inquiry the families were having to go through a long, quite tedious, invasive and largely irrelevant process.”
The Ministry of Justice said the independent Legal Aid Agency made funding decisions and Abedi “did not receive a penny of this money”.
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