Man spared jail after causing £10,000 of damage to Manchester Arena attack memorial

A MAN who caused more than £10,000 of damage to the Manchester Arena terror attack memorial has been spared jail.

A judge ruled that Anwar Hosseni, 24, was trying to “pay respect” rather than cause hurt with his “bizarre” action.

Hosseni left scratches on the city’s Glade of Light in February after being seen on CCTV praying at around 3am.

Family members of the deceased complained that markings had been etched onto the memorial.

Hosseni told police he used a crystal Buddhist head figure to etch “light language” and express “love, unity and gratitude” to the 22 killed at an Ariana Grande gig in 2017.

Hosseni, of Salford, Greater Manchester, was arrested the same day and admitted criminal damage at Manchester crown court.

Judge Nicholas Dean said Hosseni would have been jailed if the act was politically motivated.

But he said instead that Hosseni was motivated by “bizarre thought processes”.

In victim impact statements read to the court, relatives of those who died illustrated the impact the damage had caused to them.

One said: “To know someone caused such damage in such a callous and nasty way, broke our hearts again."

Another added: “When I heard about the memorial being vandalised, it made me ill. How could somebody do this?

"We as a family find it conflicting that the crime caused to the beautiful memorial and the way it was desecrated is beyond belief. How can people be so cruel and thoughtless to stoop so low?”

He got a two-year community order, was put on a mental health scheme and banned from the site for two years.