Manchester Arena Inquiry: 'Enough BTP officers on duty'

Inspector Michelle Wedderburn said staffing levels were adequate on the night of the terror attack

The Manchester Arena inquiry has been told there were enough transport police officers on duty on the night of the bombing.

Insp Michelle Wedderburn insisted British Transport Police (BTP) staffing levels were adequate and no sergeant was required on site.

Security expert Dr David BaMaung earlier told the inquiry there were too few BTP officers on duty.

He said there was a lack of experience among those who were there.

'Deterrent'

The bomb detonated by Salman Abedi killed 22 people and injured hundreds more as they left an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.

The inquiry heard there were four BTP officers assigned to the venue for the concert, which was attended by 14,000 people, in addition to an "inexperienced" constable and three PCSOs.

Insp Wedderburn, who was responsible for allocating staff, said: "The number of officers, there was enough... to provide that reassurance and that visibility and that deterrent in regard to that location, the severe threat level."

Dr BaMaung earlier told the inquiry the BTP officers in attendance had been subject to "poor supervision" on the night.

Insp Wedderburn said the officers were well-trained and knew where to position themselves and where to patrol, so a sergeant was "not a necessity".

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

Insp Wedderburn said the national terror threat had been considered when deploying officers.

"It's in everything we do," she said.

John Cooper QC, representing some of the victims' families, asked Insp Wedderburn: "Were you strapped for resources [in May 2017]?"

She said: "Not that I can recall."

Independent security expert Col Richard Latham denied he was "looking for criticisms"

The court heard BTP constable Stephen Corke was supposed to be at the arena for the end of the concert but was delayed by a burglary investigation.

He previously told the hearing that at the end of an event, he would normally stand on the mezzanine level of the City Room where Abedi was hiding.

Security expert Col Richard Latham told the inquiry: "PC Corke should have been there and was not there.

"If he had been there he would have been on the mezzanine. Had he been on the mezzanine, it's likely people would have spoken to that officer about the thing they were suspicious about."

Col Richard Latham later denied he and Dr BaMaung, who have been tasked with reviewing all the security evidence heard by the inquiry so far, were only interested in criticising the actions of those involved in arena security.

The chairman of the inquiry Sir John Saunders said: "The suggestion is that you're prepared to say anything to criticise, that you've come here to look for criticisms and to make them whether they're justified or not."

Col Latham said:"That is absolutely not the way we've approached it. We have tried to give praise when it's appropriate.

"We have no ulterior motive. We've come here to be balanced."

The inquiry was later told a counter-terrorism sniffer dog was used backstage to protect Ariana Grande and her team on the night of the attack.

It was not used elsewhere in the arena.

Sir Saunders asked Col Latham: "If a sniffer dog had been used to do a counter-terrorism search and walked past Salman Abedi, would a dog have sniffed out a bomb?"

Col Richard Latham: "Yes." He added "It is good practice to use sniffer dogs….at crowded events."

The inquiry continues.