Senior officer faces misconduct meeting over Manchester bombing response
Unnamed police officer accused of failing to tell others they were not adequately trained for key role they played
A serving senior police officer is facing a misconduct inquiry over their response to the Manchester Arena terror attack.
The unnamed officer, who played a key command role on the night of the bombing, is accused of failing to tell others that they, the officer, were not adequately trained.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it launched an investigation after a complaint in 2021 from families of the victims of the attack at an Ariana Grande concert.
A public inquiry strongly criticised Greater Manchester police (GMP) for large parts of its response to the atrocity, in which 22 people were killed and dozens seriously injured on 22 May 2017.
Sir John Saunders, the chair of the inquiry, found in 2022 that senior officers failed to declare a major incident for two and a half hours after the blast and did not tell other emergency services it had triggered a terrorism response plan.
The inquiry was also critical of specific officers over a lack of training and having insufficient experience in charge of major incidents.
The IOPC said the unnamed senior officer, who still works at GMP, would face a misconduct meeting where they could receive a sanction ranging up to a final written warning.
The IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: “It will now be for a police disciplinary panel to consider the evidence and reach a decision based on all the available information.”
Terry Woods, GMP’s deputy chief constable, said the force supported the instruction to hold a misconduct meeting and said the outcome would be made public.
He said: “I want to reiterate the chief constable’s unreserved apology made on behalf of GMP to the families following the public inquiry. We are steadfast in our commitment to ensure we do not repeat the inadequacies identified in the public inquiry. We have worked extensively in the years since to continue cementing the substantive improvements made as a result of the recommendations made.”