The blast at an Ariana Grande concert killed 22 people at Manchester Arena

The Manchester Arena bomber’s brother was equally guilty of the murder of 22 concertgoers after encouraging and assisting in the plot, his trial was told.

Hashem Abedi, 22, bought screws and nails to maximise the damage caused by the suicide bomb detonated by his older brother, Salman, at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017, the Old Bailey was told yesterday.

It was also alleged that Mr Abedi duped friends and relatives into helping to buy chemicals for the bomb and obtained vegetable oil cans and a car for the attack, which injured nearly 250 people. He was said to have sublet an address found on Facebook “in a distant part of Manchester” where the bomb was built and stored.

Hashem Abedi allegedly bought chemicals, vegetable-oil cans used to build the bomb and a car used in the attack

As the trial began the