May 24, 2017 3.08 pm This story is over 96 months old

Manchester bombing: Grantham mum questions security at Ariana Grande concert

A Grantham mum has questioned security at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester where a suicide bomber struck on Monday, killing 22 people and injuring 59 more. Clare Goodband, 44, took her 17-year-old daughter to the concert on May 22 at the Manchester Arena, and told Lincolnshire Reporter how they had been standing in the spot where…
Clare and her daughter have been left very shaken by the incident

A Grantham mum has questioned security at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester where a suicide bomber struck on Monday, killing 22 people and injuring 59 more.

Clare Goodband, 44, took her 17-year-old daughter to the concert on May 22 at the Manchester Arena, and told Lincolnshire Reporter how they had been standing in the spot where the bomb was detonated for five hours before the concert began.

Security had checked people’s bags, however people themselves and coats were not checked.

Clare said: “We both are still feeling numb and can’t get it out of our heads. We just keep thinking of the ‘what ifs’.

“We were stood five hours where the bomb went off in the ticket office before the concert started.

“I have been hearing that security didn’t check all bags but they did check mine and my daughter’s. She had an unopened bottle of Dr Pepper in her bag and they made her bin it but they didn’t check us or anyone else with coats on.

“At the end of the day anyone could have hidden something under their coat.

“We heard the bang and felt the arena shake and was like … ‘what the hell was that?’

“Then we heard car alarms going off, people screaming and running towards us saying ‘run it’s a bomb’.

“For a second or two we just looked at each other and then was told to stay still from someone who worked there.

“To be honest at that point I just grabbed my daughter’s hand and said ‘run f****** run’, so we did.”

Sheelagh Brady, security analyst with SAR Consultancy, told VICE News: “The perpetrator identified a position where the public could gather and he was in quite a strategic position to attack the exiting crowd and therefore probably wasn’t going to be searched.”

Grimsby woman describes horrifying moments after Manchester Arena suicide bombing