Man Who Claimed Manchester Bombing Was Staged Ordered to Pay Victims £45,000

Martin Hibbert outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, in an undated file photo. James Manning/PA

A father and daughter who survived the Manchester Arena bombing attack have been awarded £45,000 in damages in the High Court on Friday after suing a former TV producer who claims the attack was staged.

Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve sued Richard D. Hall for harassment over his claims in several videos and a book that the attack was a state-orchestrated hoax, with the pair involved as “crisis actors.”

Hall’s videos and his book “The Night of the Bang” offer the hypothesis that the victims sustained their injuries prior to the bombing and that some of the dead were in fact given new lives and identities abroad, while others had already died.

Hibbert and his daughter, who was then 14, suffered life-changing injuries at the Ariana Grande concert in May 2017. Hibbert sustained 22 separate injuries and was left with a spinal cord injury, while his daughter sustained severe brain damage.

Hall claimed his actions, which included filming Eve Hibbert outside her home, were in the public interest as an independent journalist and researcher, and that “millions of people have bought a lie” about the attack. He has challenged Martin Hibbert to provide evidence that he and his daughter attended the concert.

‘A False Narrative’

In a judgment handed down last month, Mrs. Justice Steyn ruled in favour of the Hibberts and described Hall’s behaviour as “a negligent, indeed reckless, abuse of media freedom,“ labeling his hypothesis a ”false narrative.”

The attack was carried out on May 22, 2017 by 22-year-old Islamist suicide bomber Salman Abedi, killing 22 people as well as the perpetrator, and injuring many others.

At a hearing in London on Friday, the judge said Hibbert and his daughter would each be awarded £22,500 in damages.

‘Crisis Actors’ Claim

The Hibberts’ lawyer, Jonathan Price, said Hall’s behaviour was “towards the more oppressive end of the spectrum of harassing conduct.”

He continued in written submissions, “In a series of widely viewed videos, a print publication, as well as during in-person lectures, the defendant insisted that the terrorist attack in which the claimants were catastrophically injured did not happen and that the claimants were participants or ‘crisis actors’ in a state-orchestrated hoax, who had repeatedly, publicly and egregiously lied to the public for monetary gain.”

Price had said a total of £75,000 for the pair in damages should be awarded, as well as at least 90 percent of their legal fees for the civil action.

Paul Oakley, for Hall, argued in written submissions that £7,500 each in damages “would be appropriate,” adding there was “no justification” for aggravated damages, as there were no allegations that Hall was activated by malice.

Oakley said that a suggested injunction was too wide, describing it as “a blanket ban” on all of Hall’s output, and described the Hibberts’ estimated costs as “jaw dropping.”

The barrister said in written submissions: “Mr. Hall’s work was ‘not about’ the claimants, who featured only minimally in the entirety of his recorded and written output.

“At best, those parts of Mr. Hall’s works which concern the claimants may be redacted but no more.”

Oakley also said Hall should be awarded costs after a data protection claim from the Hibberts was not continued.

Research Not Allowed

On his website, Hall said in a filmed statement that following a preliminary hearing in June, he was denied permission to present any of his own research as evidence to the court hearing which took place in July.

Hall was the subject of a “Panorama” programme by BBC disinformation reporter Marianna Spring in November 2022 titled “Diasaster Deniers: Hunting the Trolls,” with accompanying podcasts on Radio 4.

Hall’s videos allege that several other UK terror attacks were staged and he has made a number of detailed videos exploring the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

At the time of the BBC investigation, Hall’s YouTube channel had over 80,000 subscribers, but it has since been taken down, and his book outlining his theory on the Manchester attack is no longer available to buy on Amazon.

The market stall in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, where Hall sold his videos and books was shut down by the local council, according to the BBC.

In a lengthy statement published on Hall’s website in response to the “Panorama” broadcast, he stated that there has been “no satisfactory evidence presented to the public which proves that the Manchester Arena incident was not staged.”

The statement added, “I have followed evidence, then published details of my research and findings.”

Speaking outside court, Hibbert said Hall’s “abhorrent behaviour had to be challenged for all of us,” and added: “I am pleased with the judgment, and the comments of the judge as to how unacceptable Hall’s behaviour was.

“It is a comprehensive victory for us. I want this case to open up the door for change, and for it to protect others from what we have been put through.”

PA Media contributed to this report.