Chief constable confirms that an officer was among those killed as five more arrests are made

Police say they are investigating a terror network over the Manchester concert attack that killed 22 people, but have refused to say whether the bombmaker is believed to be at large.

After police made five further arrests and raided several properties on Wednesday, the chief constable of Greater Manchester police, Ian Hopkins, said: “I think it’s very clear that this is a network we are investigating.”



He refused to directly answer whether another person was believed to have created the bomb, or whether the police had discovered the “bomb factory”. Hopkins said instead that police were “carrying out extensive searches” in the city. A fifth person was arrested in Wigan on Wednesday afternoon in connection with the investigation.

Hopkins also said that a female police officer was among those killed. The Cheshire constabulary officer is believed to have been off duty, and the BBC reported that her husband, who was with her at the time, was critically injured and their two children hurt.

“Very sadly, I can confirm that one of the victims was a serving police officer,” Hopkins said. He added that police believed they had now identified all 22 people who were killed, and had informed their families. To date, 13 have been named by family and/or friends.

Manchester bombing: more victims named as threat level is raised to critical – live news Read more

The Greater Manchester force said on Wednesday it had arrested four men in south Manchester. The arrests came as troops were deployed on to the streets of Britain after the government raised the UK terrorist threat level to critical for the first time since July 2007. A fifth suspect was arrested in Wigan on Wednesday afternoon.

A neighbour at a property in south Manchester identified one of the men detained as Adel Forjani, in his mid-40s, and said his grown-up son was also taken away. Omar al-Faqhuri said the family were from Libya and had lived in the house for 15 years. On Wednesday afternoon, officers raided a flat on Granby Row, in Manchester city centre.

On Tuesday, police arrested a 23-year-old man in Chorlton, near an address where the family of suspected bomber Salman Ramadan Abedi had previously lived.

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, said it was likely Abedi had not acted alone. After a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, Rudd said 984 members of the armed forces were being deployed, initially in London but then elsewhere. A number of troops later arrived to take up positions at the Houses of Parliament.

Among those named as victims on Wednesday were friends Alison Howe and Lisa Lees who were killed as they were waiting to collect their 15 year-old-daughters from the Ariana Grande concert. Their daughters survived.

Lee Hunter, Lisa Lees’s brother, wrote on Facebook: “For those who don’t know, Lisa is gone but never, ever forgotten.”

Jordan Howe confirmed his stepmother had died. “She was amazing to us all x love you loads Alison Howe,” he wrote on Facebook.

Martyn Hett, 29, who went missing after he became separated from friends at the concert, was also killed. Russell Hayward, believed to be Hett’s partner, said in a statement: “We got the news last night that our wonderful iconic and beautiful Martyn didn’t survive. He left this world exactly how he lived, centre of attention. I’m in a really bad way so please forgive if I don’t reply. Thankfully I have his wonderful family and amazing friends to keep each other strong. I love you Martyn. I always will X.”

Hett’s brother, Dan, tweeted:

Dan Hett (@danhett) they found my brother last night. we are heartbroken.

The death of Nell Jones, 14, was announced at her school.

Dennis Oliver, headteacher of Holmes Chapel comprehensive school, told the Express: “It has now been announced in the school that Nell has unfortunately died. I have just done six assemblies to tell the pupils. Children are all over the place crying. We are all devastated. The heart wrenches for me and everyone else.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nell Jones, 14. Photograph: Holmes Chapel Comprehensive Scho/PA

Nell had been on crutches but it is understood she had left them in the car to go and see Grande perform.

Jane Tweddle death was confirmed by the Blackpool school where she worked as a receptionist.

Jane Bailey, principal of South Shore Academy, said Tweddle, who was a mother of three, was “a truly wonderful friend and colleague”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Alison Howe (left) and Lisa Lees. Photograph: Sash Howe/Facebook

The Lib Dem candidate for candidate for Leeds North West, Greg Mulholland, said 14-year-old Sorrell Leczkowski from Adel, Leeds, had also died. He called it “heartbreaking news”. Mulholland said the girl’s mother and grandmother were injured in the attack and being treated in hospital.

The Polish embassy in London confirmed that two Polish citizens had been killed: Angelika and Marcin Klis, aged 40 and 42 respectively. The Polish foreign minister, Witold Waszczykowski, said they had been waiting for their daughters at the arena.



Overnight, the families of 15-year-old Olivia Campbell and 32-year-old Kelly Brewster confirmed they had both died in the attack. On Tuesday the first victims to be named were 18-year-old Georgina Callander, eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos and 28-year-old John Atkinson.

Twenty people remain in “critical care” across Manchester, with people suffering from severe injuries including major organ damage and potential loss of limbs, Jon Rouse of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership said.

Scotland Yard said soldiers would help guard Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, foreign embassies and the Palace of Westminster after the threat level was increased to critical on Tuesday night.

The Metropolitan police said there would be more stop-and-search and vehicle checkpoints. A Met statement said: “As a highly visible deterrent and disruptive tactic, officers will be making more use of stop-and-search, vehicle checkpoints and automatic number plate recognition technology.”

Rudd told Sky News “people are likely to see some military on the streets”. The move was intended to free up armed officers for counter-terrorism operations.

The extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on its messaging service, but there is no known evidence to support that claim.

Mark Rowley, the head of national counter-terrorism policing, said on Wednesday morning that police were conducting a number of searches to try to establish whether the suspected bomber worked alone or was part of a network.

He had probably travelled to Syria and had links with Isis, according to the French interior minister, Gérard Collomb, who told BFMTV that British investigators passed the information to French authorities.

The Manchester police deputy chief constable, Ian Pilling, said the decision to up the threat level to critical would help the investigation into the attack. He said: “People across Greater Manchester have seen an increased police presence throughout the day and this will continue. They will be seen at key locations across the region.”

Abedi’s father Ramadan, speaking from Tripoli, denied his son was linked to the bombing. He said he had spoken to him five days ago, when his son was getting ready to visit Saudi Arabia and sounded “normal” He said that his son visited Libya a month-and-a -half ago.

Ramadan Abedi told the Associated Press by telephone: “We don’t believe in killing innocents. This is not us.”

He said his other son, Ismail, was arrested in England on Tuesday morning.

The British-Libyan community in Manchester released a statement condemning the bombing as “an attack on all of us. Such depraved acts have no basis in Islam. All those responsible for senselessly destroying the lives of innocent people do not deserve to live in our community and should be behind bars. We support the police in bringing the perpetrators to justice, and in protecting the people of Manchester and the rest of the UK.”

• This article was amended on 21 May 2018 because an earlier version gave Jane Tweddle’s surname as Tweddle-Taylor.