Manchester Arena Inquiry: Police officer Elaine McIver had 'lust for life'

Police officer Elaine McIver had a "lust for life" and would "hate to be remembered as a victim", her sister has said.

Two weeks of the official inquiry into the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing were dedicated to relatives of the 22 people killed to provide a personal insight into the lives of their loved ones - and how their lives were changed forever.

Det Con McIver, 43, was off-duty when she was killed in the attack.

Beginning the tribute, her sister Lynda said: "So how do you begin to talk about someone who was such a big part of your life?

"Well the thing is, you don't. You just can't.

"You just can't say in a period of time what somebody meant to you, and how much she loved us, and how much we loved her.

"So instead of saying something, as the old saying goes, a picture says a thousand words."

Introducing a picture presentation from their family album of photographs, Lynda told the inquiry she hoped the images "would give a taste of the character Elaine was".

The montage of family pictures was accompanied by the song Clocks by Coldplay.

She said Elaine was a "very private person" and the family were unsure whether to do a pen portrait, but eventually decided they should.

"If anyone should say anything, it should be us, as her family."

Elaine McIver first joined Cheshire Constabulary as a special and became a regular officer in 1998.

She moved to Titan, the north west regional organised crime unit, in 2013.

Jo Doyle, a family friend and colleague of Elaine, also read a tribute written by Ms McIver's partner, Paul Price.

"These are the hardest and most heartbreaking words I will ever write.

"Quite simply, there are no words," he wrote.

Jo continued to read a tribute from Paul, which described Elaine as "an extraordinary person".

"Elaine and I met in 2014... We came together because of our love of music.

"She was always sorting things out for everyone or helping them - It was like her job was to make other people happy.

"We couldn't have been happier. We were so in love, and looking back, it was perfect."

Mr Price told the inquiry: "We had our whole future ahead of us and we were finally going to live happily ever after.

"Now that that future has been so cruelly taken away, and I don't even know what the future holds for me."

Mr Price said he could not return to the house they shared because of the memories.

Mr Price was also seriously injured in the attack, and is still recovering from his injuries.

"If I took the loss of Elaine out of the equation and it was just me, with the life-changing injuries I have, that alone would be all-consuming.

"Because of the loss of Elaine, I cannot even start to think about me and my injuries.

"My whole world has been turned upside-down. She was everything to me," he said.

Her older sister Lynda added she had a "lust for life" and said she was "very much loved and very much a massive, pivotal part of our family.

"She embraced life... and was just a joy to be around.

"She would hate to be remembered as a victim."

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