‘We’re probably about to go into liquidation’: Boss of Old Trafford bomb blunder firm says he is ‘fixing his roof while he’s still got one’ while he awaits call from club
Christopher Reid apologises to the 50,000 fans forced to flee stadium as it's revealed incident could cost club £3million
THE BOSS of the security company responsible for the Old Trafford bomb blunder today joked his firm "is probably about to go into liquidation".
Christopher Reid, who runs Security Search Management & Solutions Ltd, which accidentally left a fake bomb in a toilet before Manchester United's home game against Bournemouth yesterday, also apologised to fans.
Fifty thousand spectators were evacuated shortly before kick-off after the dummy device was discovered.
Speaking at his home in Biggin Hill, south London, Mr Reid said: "I can't say anything at the moment - I'm waiting for Manchester United to get back to me.
"Obviously, it's a security issue. If it was any other sort of issue and I needed to put my side of the story then it would be different.
"But I'm waiting for them to get back to me. I'm just fixing my roof while I've still got one. I can't say anything.
"They said this afternoon, and I'm sure they're having meetings at the moment to see which guillotine they're going to use on me. I have to take responsibility in the end, I won't shirk my responsibility.
"It will come out I'm sure. I don't know what I'm allowed to say, what they want me to say, or anything like this so I don't want to compromise that at all.
"There's a lot I want to say to the fans, but I don't want to do that now. I've actually spoken to a couple of people who were there and they said don't worry about it, everybody was fine.
"I said as long as no one was injured, and I'm really sorry they had to miss their game."
Asked to confirm his job title, Mr Reid said: "I'm the managing director of Security Search Management & Solutions Ltd, which is probably about to go into liquidation."
Mr Reid worked previously for G4S where he was responsible for training guards involved in search and screening vehicles and visitors at the London Olympics.
The company faced enormous criticism and chief executive Nick Buckles resigned after the army was drafted in to provide back up security because the G4S failed to provide the staff needed.
On his Linkedin page Mr Reid writes: "In the lead-up and during the London 2012 Olympics I had responsibility for the initial training of all personnel who provided the Search & Screening capability for Vehicles and Persons entering the Olympic Park plus refresher training and procedural quality assurance during the Games period."
He adds that he also worked for the Met Police for more than 32 years as a Counter Terrorist Police Search Advisor (PolSA) "responsible for advising Chief Police Officers on Counter Terrorist and other search related matters. Planning, Command & Control of Search Operations, e.g.
"Royal engagements, State Visits, Military events, Bomb scenes, Major crime scenes, Missing Persons, Summits such as G20."
Mr Reid's comments come as it was revealed the blunder is likely to cost the Manchester club in excess of £3million.
They are offering refunds to all ticketholders and will allow them to watch Tuesday's rescheduled match for free.
As an enquiry into the incident continued today Manchester's police and crime commissioner warned the club they must be "up front" with answers about Sunday's "shambolic" security scare.
Tony Lloyd, who is also the mayor of Greater Manchester said: "I think United have to come up front with all this because in the end it's their reputation, but it's also public safety and both those two really do matter.
"I think United have got to begin to put answers forward and I look forward to hearing what they have to say as soon as possible.
"Fiasco is the right word. It was shambolic. Of course United are a huge organisation. It wasn't the fact they're the world's richest club - that they are - it was the fact that the security had missed something that in the end ought to have been found.
"What's almost impossible to understand is how in placing so many dummies for an exercise, those dummies were not counted in again. If that was, as I understand it, on Wednesday, really shouldn't people be searching all the way through till it's found, whether on Wednesday, on Thursday, on Friday - and certainly long before 20 minutes before kick-off of a major game at a time when already tens of thousands of people were in the ground?
"I think it's also astonishing that there isn't a routine sweeping of the ground to find something that seemingly was discovered quite easily once the sweep was taking place 20 minutes before kick-off, but far too late on."
An exercise is thought to have been held at the stadium last Wednesday. Somehow the device remained in place before the match, at which 76,000 fans were expected.
Last night Phil Townsend, Manchester United’s director of communications, said: “There was a dog training exercise at the stadium carried out by a third party security company this week.
“It is not the firm we regularly use for our day-to-day security and as per our statement this is quite clearly not the police’s fault.”
Yesterday was the first time a bomb alert has halted a Premier League game.
The alarm was raised at 2.40pm — just 20 minutes before kick-off.
Around 20,000 fans in The Stretford End and Sir Alex Ferguson Stand were evacuated first.
The kick-off time was put back to 3.45pm as players, including England captain Wayne Rooney, were kept in the dressing rooms. His wife Coleen was among Wags led away.
But the match was then called off as bomb disposal experts backed by sniffer dogs moved in.
Remaining fans, including the Bournemouth supporters, were asked to leave at 3.20pm as word began spreading on social media that a suspected bomb had been found.
Staff had discovered a mobile phone wired to a length of piping taped to the back of a toilet door close to an executive suite.
Ordnance experts carried out a close inspection followed by a controlled explosion at 4.45pm.
Mr Woodward said: “I’d like to thank the support from the police, which was first class, and the impeccable response from fans.
“The club takes security very seriously and staff are regularly trained with the police and emergency services to identify and deal with these incidents. We will investigate the incident to inform future actions and decisions.”
The drama came after the recent discovery of batteries attached to Woodward’s own seat in the ground.
It was initially thought to be part of a bugging plot but this theory — and a possible terror threat — were discounted after an internal probe.
A club source said: “It’s a mystery why they were there.”