Mother of North East Manchester Arena bomb victim hopes lessons learnt
The mother of one of the North East victims of the Manchester Arena suicide bombing has told ITV News Tyne Tees she hopes "many lessons are learnt" so that other families don't face a similar experience in the future.
June Tron, mother of Philip Tron, 32, from Gateshead who was killed in the attack said: "Every life taken in this horrendous attack has destroyed the lives of those close to them and like the many other families affected we don't want anyone else to go through what we have following the loss of Philip.
June Tron reads a statement to the media in Manchester
Ms Tron added: "It has been extremely hard to listen to evidence which has highlighted how our Government has failed to take extra steps to ensure security is as it should be at venues like this across the country, and how organisations who are supposedly experts in running such venues and events can make so many basic mistakes relating to safety and security.
"We hope that, as a result of this inquiry, many lessons are learned and that laws are introduced and changes made quickly to ensure people can go to a concert or a big public event in confidence that they have the best possible protection.
The attack on the Manchester Arena in May 2017 resulted in the deaths of 22 people, six of whom were from the ITV News Tyne Tees region.
Marcin and Angelika Klis from York were collecting their daughters from the concert when a bomb went off in the foyer.
Teenage sweethearts Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry from South Shields were also at the concert on May 22.
19-year-old Courtney Boyle was also at the concert along with her mother's partner, Philip Tron, who also died.
On Thursday, a public inquiry into the bombing found suicide bomber Salman Abedi should have been identified as a threat on the night of the attack by those in charge of security.
In his report examining security arrangements at the venue where hundreds were also injured at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders found there were a number of missed opportunities to prevent or minimise the "devastating impact".
Sir John said he considered it likely Salman Abedi would still have detonated his device if confronted "but the loss of life and injury is highly likely to have been less.".
Manchester-born Abedi, of Libyan descent, walked across the City Room foyer of the venue towards the main doors and detonated his shrapnel-laden device, packed into his bulging rucksack, at 10.31pm on May 22 just as thousands, including many children, left the concert.
Hearings at the public inquiry into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the attack have been ongoing in the city since September last year.
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