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LONDON (AP) — A British father and daughter who were seriously wounded by a suicide bomber who killed 22 people after an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in 2017 won a harassment lawsuit Wednesday against a former television producer, who claimed the tragedy was a hoax.
Martin Hibbert and his daughter, Eve, sued Richard Hall over false claims he made in videos, a film and a book that the Manchester Arena bombing was staged using actors and no one was injured or killed.
Hall, an independent producer, had claimed “millions of people have bought a lie” about the attack and defended his work, including surreptitiously filming the daughter, as journalism in the public’s interest. He said several people listed as dead were living overseas or had died before the attack.
“I have no doubt that his course of conduct was a negligent, indeed reckless, abuse of media freedom,” Justice Karen Steyn wrote. “Over a period of years, he has repeatedly published false allegations, based on the flimsiest of analytical techniques, and dismissing the obvious, tragic reality to which so many ordinary people have attested.”
Salman Abedi blew himself up with a bomb hidden in a knapsack as fans were leaving the Grande concert on May 22, 2017. In addition to those killed, more than 260 people were injured and hundreds of others were left with “deep psychological injuries,” police said.
Abedi’s younger brother, Hashem Abedi, was convicted of 22 counts of murder and sentenced to at least 55 years in prison for helping plan the attack.
Hibbert was paralyzed from the waist down and his daughter, who was 14 at the time, nearly died and has severe brain damage.
The judge said she would consider damages at a later hearing and also consider a separate claim of data protection violations.
Martin Hibbert called the decision a “comprehensive victory.” He said he hoped Hall would be slapped with an injunction and that a new law — possibly named for his daughter — is created to protect others.
“I am really pleased with not only the overall judgment, but also the many comments of the judge as to how unacceptable Hall’s behavior was,” Hibbert said. “I do want this to open the door for change, and to help protect others from what we have been put through in the future.”
The case has echoes of lawsuits brought in the U.S. by parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012 who successfully sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones over his false claims the bloodbath was a hoax. He has been ordered to pay $1.5 billion in damages.
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