Manchester Arena Inquiry: Risk assessment was 'box ticking'

Miriam Stone was giving evidence at the inquiry

Risk assessments carried out by the Manchester Arena operators were "flawed" and "pretty much box ticking", an inquiry has heard.

Miriam Stone, SMG's head of events, told the inquiry into the attack there was no specific assessment done for the Ariana Grande concert or consideration given to the terrorism risk.

She said while there were flaws with the written documentation, "we did assess the risk".

The 2017 suicide bomb killed 22 people.

Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the public inquiry, asked Ms Stone, who was one of the duty managers on the night of the attack, if the assessments were done to ensure a "box was ticked".

She replied: "I think we had got to the point where that is pretty much how it got used."

On Tuesday, Ms Stone's boss James Allen told the inquiry SMG put the arena's terrorism risk level at low despite the national threat level being "severe".

Top row (left to right): Alison Howe, Martyn Hett, Lisa Lees, Courtney Boyle, Eilidh MacLeod, Elaine McIver, Georgina Callander, Jane Tweddle - Middle row (left to right): John Atkinson, Kelly Brewster, Liam Curry, Chloe Rutherford, Marcin Klis, Angelika Klis, Megan Hurley, Michelle Kiss - Bottom row (left to right): Nell Jones, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, Philip Tron, Saffie-Rose Roussos, Sorrell Leczkowski, Wendy Fawell

She also told the inquiry suspicions raised about bomber Salman Abedi should have been passed to the control room.

She said it would have taken "a minute or two" to shut the exit doors leading to where the bomb was detonated.

Abedi hid in the mezzanine area, which was a CCTV blindspot, for nearly an hour before the bombing.

Arena security provider Showsec earlier told the inquiry staff did not believe they were expected to check the raised mezzanine level of the City Room, although check sheets listed the "entire City Room area".

Ms Stone said: "It had never occurred to me until the evidence that anybody would read it any other way.

"It's all one room. I would expect all of it to be checked."

'Suspicious looking man'

Mr Greaney QC asked Ms Stone if the venue did enough at the time to prevent someone doing harm getting into the City Room.

She replied: "Well somebody did, so no."

Speaking about steward Mohammed Agha, who was told about a suspicious looking man with a rucksack but did not pass this on to his supervisor, she said: "I don't want to cast any aspersions on him but I don't think it would have been difficult to contact someone from that position."

When asked about steward Kyle Lawler, who was told by Mr Agha about the man but said the radio was too busy to contact control, she said it did not accord with her own experience.

She said "the radios are really quite quiet" at the end of concerts.

The inquiry heard Ms Stone was concerned about terrorism and helped devise a training exercise in December 2014 which rehearsed for an attack inside the arena's City Room, where the attack took place.

The inquiry continues.