A conspiracy theorist being sued by two survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing is “perfectly entitled” to believe the deadly attack was an “elaborate hoax”, his lawyer has told a court.
Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve, then 14, were among the hundreds of people injured when 22-year-old Salman Abedi detonated a homemade bomb at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.
Mr Hibbert was paralysed from the waist down, while his daughter suffered a severe brain injury in the attack, which killed 22 people.
They are suing self-styled journalist Richard Hall for alleged harassment and breaches of data protection laws in a civil trial at the High Court in London.
Mr Hall has claimed that the attack was faked by government agencies using “crisis actors” and has published a book and videos claiming the bombing was a “hoax” - as well as “secretly filming” Miss Hibbert and her mother outside their house.
You have the right to believe what you like but rights come with responsibilities and one of those is to not be a dick about what you believe.
Right to believe, but not free from the consequences of what you would do if you’re acting on said beliefs. That’s a pretty basic concept lots of people don’t understand.