Manchester Arena bomber visited target during Take That concert and Brian Cox event

Security staff did not raise concerns about Salman Abedi during three hostile reconnaisance trips

The Manchester Arena bomber visited his future target as fans arrived for a Take That concert and event with professor Brian Cox, an inquiry has heard.

Salman Abedi made three “hostile reconnaissance” trips to the City Room, which links the venue with Manchester Victoria station, before the attack on 22 May 2017.

A public inquiry into the bombing heard that his first trip was four days earlier, just hours after he travelled back to the UK from Libya.

It was played CCTV footage of Abedi, wearing dark clothing and trainers, arriving by tram shortly after 6pm and walking around the perimeter of the railway station and arena.

The 22-year-old could be seen entering the City Room at 6.35pm and walking past a security supervisor, before he standing with his hands behind his back and staring at Take That fans queuing for the concert.

Shortly afterwards he returned to the tram stop and left.

The inquiry heard that security experts believe he used the first visit to identify entrance and exit routes from the arena, and check CCTV camera locations - possibly noticing a blind spot on the raised level of the City Room.

On Monday, it was told that concerns were not raised about Abedi on 18 May but that minutes after he left, security guards pursued an innocent man wearing a rucksack.

He returned to the City Room shortly before 7pm on 21 May, when a show by physicist Prof Cox was being held.

Footage showed him wearing dark clothing, a black baseball cap and with his hood up.

He was seen casually jumping on a wall and sitting there for six minutes, holding his phone to his ear and occasionally looking around before leaving.

A CCTV still shows suicide bomber Salman Abedi sitting in the foyer of the Manchester Arena during a reconnaisance visit on 21 May 2017 (Manchester Arena Inquiry )

Abedi was not carrying the bomb he would later detonate with him on the reconnaissance trips and the trial of his brother Hashem Abedi, who was jailed for life for his part in the plot, heard that Ariana Grande’s concert was deliberately targeted.

Sentencing him in August, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said he was satisfied that the brothers selected their target before Abedi left his family home in Libya days earlier.

The judge said Grande was “renowned” for her large following among children and teenagers, adding: “I am satisfied that it was their intention to specifically target this age group - an aim in which they tragically succeeded, as almost half of those killed in the explosion were either children or teenagers.”

Abedi’s last reconnaissance trip was on the night of the bombing, when he arrived in the City Room at 6.34pm and had a brief conversation with two security guards.

He took a taxi from the railway station shortly afterwards and returned, carrying his bomb in a rucksack, at 8.30pm.

The inquiry heard how Abedi waited for almost an hour on the mezzanine level of the City Room, in the CCTV blind spot, before going down the stairs and detonating the bomb at 10.31pm.

Sir John Saunders, chair of the inquiry, asked a Greater Manchester Police officer whether it was clear in hindsight that Abedi had been carrying out reconnaissance.

Salman Abedi adjusting wiring underneath his clothing as he carries his suicide bomb in a lift at Manchester Arena shortly before the attack on 22 May 2017 (Manchester Arena Inquiry )

Det Ch Insp Sam Pickering replied: "It's a busy place with lots of people wandering around... it might be hard to spot."

Michael Edwards, who worked in a CCTV control room for arena operator SMG Europe, told the inquiry that the CCTV blind spot that where Abedi sat had been there for his 14 years of employment at least.

He said it had been rectified and covered by a camera two months ago.

Andrew O'Connor QC, representing SMG, said the way the City Room has been secured since it reopened in September 2017 was “completely different” and  that it had been made a “sterile area”. 

Two members of the public reported Abedi as suspicious to a security guard and police officer before the bombing, and several people working at the arena later told police they saw a man matching his description.

He was described as “odd”, “out of place” and someone who “appeared to be hiding”.

Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, previously said it would examine why the security guards and police did not alert others about reports related to Abedi before the bombing.

He said potential “missed opportunities” would be looked at, including whether the attack could have been prevented.

Sir John, a retired High Court judge, is leading the probe examining events before, during and after the attack.

In total, 22 victims were killed, 264 people were injured and 710 survivors have reported suffering from psychological trauma.

Additional reporting by PA