Manchester Arena attack conspiracy claims 'distressing' - survivor

Paul Price lost his partner Elaine McIver in the Manchester Arena attack

A conspiracy theorist who was sued for claiming no-one died in the Manchester Arena attack has caused "hurt and distress", a survivor has said.

Two survivors of the 2017 attack where 22 people were killed at an Ariana Grande concert won their case against writer Richard Hall on Thursday.

He had claimed the bombing was faked by "government agencies".

Paul Price, who lost his partner Elaine in the attack, said social media had given "cranks" like Mr Hall a platform.

"In the past, this was the lunatic on the street corner, you never stopped and stood and listened to him, you just walked past," he said.

Judge Richard Davison ruled in favour of Martin and Eve Hibbert, two survivors of the attack who had sought to sue Mr Hall after he said they were not there when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device.

'Don't listen'

Mr Price, who suffered catastrophic injuries in the blast and lost his partner Elaine McIver, said the writer's claims had "upset a lot of people".

"I'd love for Elaine to still be alive, but that's not the case, and it's just the upset and hurt that he causes," he said.

"He has got a platform, and unfortunately people do watch it and engage and listen to him."

Mr Price urged people not to engage with conspiracy theorists online, adding "don't seek them out, don't view their videos, don't listen to them".

"He's just one of hundreds of thousands of cranks on the internet, and I just chose not to engage with them, I protect myself."