Manchester Arena inquiry LIVE as two senior officers in charge of initial response to atrocity give evidence
Superintendents Arif Nawaz and Chris Hill were both said to be silver commanders on the night of the attack
Tributes in St Ann s Square after the terror attack at Manchester Arena in 2017 (Image: Manchester Evening News)
The Manchester Arena bombing inquiry was today (Monday) due to hear from two senior officers who were in charge of the initial response to the atrocity.
Superintendents Arif Nawaz and Chris Hill were both said to be silver commanders on the night of the attack.
They were at different points stationed in the silver control room set up in the force headquarters in Newton Heath to take pressure off the force duty officer, Insp Dale Sexton, who was in another building and concentrating on the perceived threat of a continuing marauding terror attack.
Senior cop who decided to stay away from the scene of Arena attack denies leaving a command vacuum
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Manchester Arena inquiry shines a light on what police did and didn t do on that terrible night in May 2017
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Published
image captionTwenty-two people died in the attack on 22 May 2017
One of the first police officers to arrive at the scene of the Manchester Arena attack has told a public inquiry he was desperate to get emergency responders in to treat the injured.
PC Edward Richardson said the incident should have been treated as a so-called warm zone , so responders could help.
With four firearms officers at the scene, he said he would not have forced anyone treating the injured leave. I m never going to tell them to leave and then watch people die, he said.
The firearms officer, who took on the role of Operational Firearms Commander on the night, said although he regarded the arena foyer area to be vulnerable to the threat of another bomb, he felt it was necessary responders could get in and treat the injured.
Armed officer s disbelief at response of other emergency services to casualties in Manchester Arena bomb blast zone
PC Edward Richardson accepted not being able to stop and treat people as an active firearms officer was something he has struggled with since
Updated
The Manchester Arena public inquiry is continuing (Image: PA)
One of the first armed police officers inside Manchester Arena after the bombing said he felt a sense of disbelief over the response of other emergency services to casualties in the blast scene.
PC Edward Richardson, the Operational Firearms Commander (OFC) for Greater Manchester Police, entered the Arena complex 10 minutes after the 10.31pm explosion on May 22, 2017.