Two Manchester Arena bombing survivors have won their High Court harassment case against a former television producer who believes the attack was staged.
Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve sued Richard Hall for harassment and data protection over his claims in several videos and a book that the attack was staged.
The father and daughter suffered life-changing injuries at the Ariana Grande concert in May 2017, with Mr Hibbert left with a spinal cord injury and Miss Hibbert facing severe brain damage.
But Mr Hall has claimed his actions – including an incident of filming Miss Hibbert outside her home – were in the public interest as a journalist, and that “millions of people have bought a lie” about the attack.
In a 63-page judgment on Wednesday, Mrs Justice Steyn said the Hibberts had won their harassment claim, but said she would not decide the data protection claim at this stage.
The judge described Mr Hall’s actions as “a negligent, indeed reckless, abuse of media freedom” and said that the trained engineer is “blinkered in his belief that the false story he has spun is true”.
Mrs Justice Steyn added: “Over a period of years, he has repeatedly published false allegations, based on the flimsiest of analytical techniques, and dismissing the obvious, tragic reality to which so many ordinary people have attested.
“He has published his allegations widely, on a variety of platforms, over a period of years to viewers and readers in this jurisdiction likely numbering well over 100,000.
“He has done so for commercial gain, albeit I accept his evidence that the financial benefit to him has only been sufficient to enable him to continue his work. All of this conduct has a natural tendency to cause serious distress, especially when those targeted are vulnerable.”
Salman Abedi killed 22 people and injured hundreds when he detonated the homemade rucksack-bomb in the crowd of concert-goers, with the court told that the Hibberts were among those standing nearest to him at the time of the blast.
The judge said in her ruling that by the time Mr Hall published his book and some of the videos, the suicide-bomber’s brother Hashem Abedi had been convicted, “yet Mr Hall paid no heed to the facts that demonstrated the jury found proved to the criminal standard”.
Mrs Justice Steyn continued: “Mr Hall has published and continues to publish his false allegations despite the attack having been the subject of thorough investigations, a criminal trial, and authoritative reports which any reasonable person would recognise command respect.
“Mr Hall’s publications are not only false, but they also lack any semblance of balance.”
At a trial in July, the court heard that Mr Hibbert received 22 wounds from shrapnel, and Miss Hibbert suffered a “catastrophic brain injury” after a bolt from the bomb struck her in the head – leading to her being presumed dead at the scene.
Mrs Justice Steyn said it was clear that Mr Hall’s actions, including “increasingly intrusive and offensive publications” had alarmed and distressed Mr Hibbert and that tracking down Miss Hibbert at her home was an unwarranted interference with the family’s right to privacy.
She added: “Mr Hall knew that Mr Hibbert said his teenage daughter, who he had taken to the concert, had been hit in the head by a bolt propelled by the explosion, and that she had been very severely injured.
“He also knew that her family were shielding her from any media attention.
“From the available information, it should have been readily apparent to any journalist – even if the individual journalist was highly sceptical of the ‘official narrative’ – that Eve should be treated as a vulnerable young person who had been caught up and severely injured in a traumatic incident.”
Martin Hibbert described the decision as a “comprehensive victory”, adding: “I am really pleased with not only the overall judgment, but also the many comments of the judge as to how unacceptable Hall’s behaviour was.”
He said that he was hoping for an injunction, adding: “I do want this to open the door for change, and to help protect others from what we have been put through in the future.
“I will be discussing this with my legal team at Hudgell Solicitors, with the aim of establishing a new law in Eve’s name.”
The data protection claim, as well as any damages or injunctions, will be decided at a later date.
