Manchester Arena Inquiry: Bomber's hiding spot 'not patrolled'

Tom Bailey was one of Showsec's heads of security at the arena in 2017 but was not on duty on the night of the bombing

Staff were not expected to check an area at Manchester Arena where Salman Abedi hid for nearly an hour before the venue bombing, a security boss said.

Venue operator SMG and security provider Showsec had opposing views on whose responsibility it was to patrol an upstairs area of the City Room, an inquiry into the blast heard.

Twenty-two people died in May 2017 with hundreds more injured.

Abedi remained out of sight from CCTV before he struck, the inquiry was told.

Bosses at SMG thought Showsec staff would physically walk up the stairs - to the location where Abedi was hiding - before concertgoers were due to leave.

But Showsec employees believed their patrol duties ended at the bottom of the steps, the inquiry heard.

Showsec's then head of security at the arena Tom Bailey said it was never his understanding, and neither was it practice, for its staff to patrol that area, including looking for suspicious characters.

Although check sheets listed the "Entire City Room area including McDonald's and JD Williams entrance," the inquiry heard.

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

Asked about the apparent misunderstanding between the two organisations, Mr Bailey said: "I think one party thought one thing and the other party thought another."

He described the working relationship with SMG and Showsec as "very, very close".

Inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders asked him: "With the staff you had on 22 May did you have a reasonable prospect of stopping a bomber who came into the City Room and never came near the doors?"

"No," said Mr Bailey.

The inquiry continues.