Bomb survivor tells of facing conspiracy theorist

A survivor of the Manchester Arena bombing has told of the moment he faced down a conspiracy theorist who claimed the attack that left him with life-changing injuries was staged.

Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve sued Richard Hall for harassment in the High Court and were awarded £45,000 in damages on Friday.

The father-of-one was left with a spinal cord injury and Ms Hibbert suffered severe brain damage as a result of the 2017 bombing - which Hall had described as "a lie".

Mr Hibbert, of Chorley, Lancashire, said: "It was never about the money. It was about a father protecting his daughter."

"When the police told me he was filming outside our house, that's when it got very serious and I had to do something," he added.

Twenty-two people died and hundreds more were injured when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a homemade device in the foyer of the venue as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert.

Hall had told the court his claims were in the public interest as a journalist and claimed "millions of people" had "bought a lie" about the attack.

Mr Hibbert told BBC Radio Lancashire: "The trial was in July and I came face to face with him for a week, when he's actually there in person and he's saying he believes these things.

"The worst part of it all was when I had to get Eve's birth certificate and send it to the court because he didn't think that I was Eve's dad.

"It still hits me in the heart that he was saying that. I'll never forgive him for that.

"All the other things are sticks and stones, but when somebody says you're not a person's dad, that shows you how low he is."

He said Hall, who also had to pay about £240,000 in court costs, showed "no remorse".

"He did a runner out of the courtroom. It was like something out of Wylie Coyote, all the steam coming from his feet when he ran out," Mr Hibbert said.

"He firmly believes there was no bomb, it's a government set-up and we're crisis actors. Even the judge said it's absurd, fantastical. You believe what you're saying and that's his right, but I'm not having it."

He continued: "Not only is he saying that I'm a liar and that other people are liars, but he's saying that the surgeon that saved my life and worked on me for 14 hours doesn't exist.

"My mum had to drive from Bolton to Salford Royal, and all those things that went through her head, he's saying that never happened and I cannot stand that. I cannot live with that."

Mr Hibbert said he took Hall to court "for my mum, my neurosurgeon that saved my life, all the beautiful people at Salford Royal, all the amazing people at Manchester Children's Hospital that looked after Eve for nearly 12 months because she was injured that bad".

He said the case had taken two years to get to court but the "harassment and the trolling" had continued for five.

"It's been tough but I had a cracking night's sleep [on Friday]," he said.

"He's not even allowed to utter our names now or he's in contempt of court, so we've got that now. We can live in peace."

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