The man who spread the theory online that the Manchester Arena terror attack was staged and was accused of visiting the homes and workplaces of those injured in the attack and recording footage of them has lost his appeal in the High Court
Martin Hibbert and his daughter, Eve, who were both left with life-changing injuries took Richard Hall to court for harassment, misuse of private information and data protection.
Hall has claimed that the attack, in which Salman Abedi detonated a homemade rucksack bomb in the crowd of concert-goers, was faked.
Judge Richard Davison said: “Suffice it to say that, although his beliefs may be genuinely held, his theory that the Manchester bombing was an operation staged by government agencies in which no one was genuinely killed or injured is absurd and fantastical and it provides no basis to rebut the conviction.”
He said it was “fanciful” to suggest that Abedi did not die and “still more fanciful” to argue the bomber was an intelligence asset.
