Manchester Arena Inquiry: Salman Abedi was immature student, hearing told

The Manchester Arena bomber was an "immature" student whose conduct raised concern but could not obviously be linked to extremism, an inquiry heard.

Twenty-two people were killed when Salman Abedi detonated a bomb in the venue's foyer on 22 May 2017.

The inquiry into the atrocity heard none of the educational institutes he attended could be blamed for failing to spot signs of radicalisation.

Abedi's behaviour at college was described as "unpleasant" and "idle".

The inquiry has examined an expert report looking at his post-primary education in the Manchester area and whether anything could have been done to identify or prevent his radicalisation.

Professor Lynn Davies concluded none of the five places he attended between 2007 and 2017 could be blamed for failing to recognise issues, given the information available to them.

Abedi attended Wellacre Technical College in Urmston from 2007, where he started off with a reading age of seven, the inquiry heard.

His attendance was "reasonably good" and although there were two incidents of poor behaviour there was no evidence of radicalisation, Prof Davies said.

From 2009, Abedi attended Burnage Media Arts College, where head teacher Ian Fenn said he caught him on CCTV stealing a phone.

Prof Davies said: "His behaviour and aggression was very much a cause of concern but there were no obvious signs that this was linked to extremism.

"At this stage Salman Abedi was just an unpleasant and idle lout."

Prof Davies's report said that Manchester College, where he attended between 2012 and 2013, could not have known he was being radicalised if it was happening at the time and there was no record of fellow students raising concerns.

Abedi was also a student at Trafford College from 2013 to 2015, where Prof Davies found he was "not a model student with frequent absences, lateness, failure to complete assignments and rudeness to staff".

In terms of radicalisation, she said: "In my view, there was little or nothing to notice."

Salman Abedi's behaviour at college has been described as "unpleasant" and "idle"

Prof Davies said there was also no failure on the part of the University of Salford, where he studied from 2015 to 2017, to spot problems.

Overall, she concluded: "He was clearly immature with inadequate insight into responsible learner behaviour and relationships.

"However while his conduct was of concern this could be said of many difficult students and could not be obviously linked to any radicalised behaviour."

Only two incidents in the 10 years could potentially be a flag of radicalisation - an assault on a female student and an image on his phone of him holding a gun - but they happened at two different colleges and taken separately did not warrant further consideration, she added.

The inquiry continues.

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