MI5 missed ‘significant’ opportunity to stop Manchester Arena bombing that killed 22, inquiry finds

MI5 missed a “significant” chance to take action that might have prevented the Manchester Arena attack, an inquiry has found.

The final report in the three-year probe said the security service received intelligence on Salman Abedi on two separate occasions in the months before he murdered 22 people in May 2017.

Inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders said the reasons for the missed opportunity included a “failure” by an MI5 officer to act swiftly enough.

“There was a significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack,” he said on Thursday 2 March.

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