Manchester Arena Inquiry: Police chief 'would break policy again'

Ch Insp Dale Sexton was the force duty officer in the control room on the night of the attack

A police chief who broke policy on the night of the Manchester Arena bombing "to save lives" said he would do it again if a similar attack happened.

Ch Insp Dale Sexton declared Operation Plato, a pre-arranged terrorist plan, within minutes of the bomb being detonated but did not alert the fire and ambulance services.

He denied that the omission was because he was overwhelmed after the explosion.

"If we had that same situation I would do it again," he told the inquiry.

Twenty-two people were killed when Salman Abedi detonated a bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at about 22:30 BST on 22 May 2017.

Ch Insp Sexton, from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), was the force duty officer in the control room on the night of the attack.

At the inquiry into the atrocity, he was asked if there were are any circumstances now in which he would withhold information about a terrorist attack again.

Ch Insp Sexton replied: "Yes. For exactly the same reasons as we had then."

Twenty-two people died in the attack on 22 May 2017

Pete Weatherby QC, representing some of the bereaved families, asked why he had not told a previous review, conducted by Lord Kerslake, about concealing the information.

Ch Insp Sexton told the hearing: "I felt as if I'd got away with it."

He said it was not a decision he was proud of but believed "it was the right thing to do".

The officer accepted he should have told the previous inquiries the full truth but denied he was lying.

The inquiry continues.

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