WARRANT GRANTED FOR BROTHER OF MANCHESTER SUICIDE BOMBER ON SUSPICION OF 22 COUNTS OF MURDER

The investigation has continued at considerable speed with officers drawn from across UK policing to support it.

In addition to the 22 families devastated by the murder of their loved ones, we can now say that that there are more than 500 injured people from the attack

We continue to have family liaison officers deployed to the families who have lost family members and are also working with survivors and their families to support them at this very difficult time.

We have previously explained that amongst the survivors, 16 people were very seriously injured. Injuries include paralysis, loss of limbs, internal injuries and very serious facial injuries. Many have had complicated plastic surgery.

Of course, everyone, not least those who have lost their loved ones will live with the memories of what happened, for ever.

The size of the investigation is very substantial.

•       We have arrested 23 people

•       We have searched 30 addresses

·        Seized 11,000 exhibits

•       We now have 16 terabytes of data being examined.

•       We have taken over 1300 statements and there are over 5,000 people referenced in the inquiry

•       We have 16,000 hours of CCTV which we are working through

•       And over 8 million lines of telephone communications data.

We have previously reported that:

• Our understanding of Salmon Abebi’s movements is very clear

• We have not uncovered evidence of a wide network

• However we have also said that we wished to interview Hashem Abedi, the brother of Salman Abedi and that he was a suspect in relation to this attack.

I can now say that following a review of the evidence by the CPS, we have applied for and been granted a warrant for the arrest of Hashem Abedi. The arrest warrant relates to the Murder of 22 people, the attempted murder of others who were injured and conspiracy to cause an explosion.

Hashem Abedi is currently detained in Libya and the CPS has now requested that Libyan authorities consider his extradition back to the United Kingdom.

We are grateful for the Libyan authorities considering this request.

You will appreciate that we must not do or say anything that might prejudice a fair trial and that this remains an ongoing investigation.

We also need to respect the due process being managed by Libyan authorities and as a consequence at this time we are unable to provide any further detail.

This investigation is still running at a very fast pace. We are incredibly grateful for the support of the hundreds of people affected by this horrible attack and our officers are constantly moved by their stories and by their accounts.

We are also grateful for the huge support of the public not only in this investigation but their continued calls to policing about suspicious activity.