Manchester Arena bomb victim's dad says he was badly failed by MI5

Paul Hett decided to speak out ahead of the fifth anniversary of the atrocity

A father whose son was killed in the Manchester Arena attack has said he was "badly failed" by MI5.

Martyn Hett, 29, was among the 22 people who were murdered when Salman Abedi set off a bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.

His father Paul Hett said he "can't understand" why Abedi was not classed as a person of interest by the security services prior to the attack.

The government said it would not be appropriate to comment at this time.

A public inquiry into the attack has been exploring the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the bombing and is due to publish its findings later in the year.

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Among the topics it has considered is the radicalisation of the bomber.

It has heard that on 1 May 2017, Abedi had been assessed as meeting the threshold to be considered for further investigation by MI5 and was due to be considered for referral on 31 May 2017.

It has also heard Abedi visited convicted terrorist Abdalraouf Abdallah in prison.

A senior MI5 officer later conceded that it was a mistake not to question the bomber after he returned to the UK from Libya four days before the attack.

Mr Hett said Martyn had been "so full of life, so effervescent"

Mr Hett told BBC Breakfast that when the bombing happened, "we thought that Martyn was just in the wrong place at the wrong time" and "extremely unlucky".

"Now we know that wasn't the case," he said.

"The fact was that this could and should have been prevented and we just can't get over that."

He said he "can't understand" why Abedi was not a person of interest, because he had "at least eight" known terrorist contacts.

"He also visited a convicted terrorist in prison on two occasions," he said.

"If he'd have been classed as a person of interest, he would have been stopped and searched."

"[It's] highly likely they would have found something in his personal luggage or on his person that would have led to them knowing that he was going to try and commit a terrorist attack."

A government spokesperson said it would not be appropriate to comment further while the inquiry was ongoing.

However, the spokesman added: "Those killed or had their lives changed forever in the Manchester Arena attack remain at the forefront of our thoughts."

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

He also criticised the arena's operators SMG, its security company Showsec and British Transport Police (BTP) for failing to prevent the attack.

A spokesman for BTP said it recognised that there had been a number of "systematic failings", but added that "substantial changes" had been made since the bombing.

SMG and Showsec have been approached for comment.

Mr Hett, who was speaking ahead of an ITV documentary about the atrocity, also paid tribute to his son.

"He was so full of life, so effervescent," he said.

"He inspired everyone he came in contact with.

"He was an amazing lad."

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