On December 18, 2025, nearly nine years after the tragic Manchester Arena bombing, a judge at the Manchester Civil Courts of Justice approved a landmark compensation settlement: just under £20 million will be paid to sixteen children who were injured in the attack. The ruling, which saw awards ranging from £2,770 to nearly £11.4 million for a single claimant, marks a significant moment for survivors and their families—though, as many involved have emphasized, it is far from a day of celebration.
The Manchester Arena bombing, one of the deadliest terror attacks in recent British history, occurred on May 22, 2017. As thousands of fans—many of them teenagers—were leaving an Ariana Grande concert, Salman Abedi detonated a homemade, shrapnel-packed bomb in the foyer. The blast killed twenty-two people and left hundreds more injured, physically and psychologically. The devastation reverberated across the UK and beyond, with families, survivors, and the public demanding answers and accountability.
The sixteen compensation claims approved this week were brought on behalf of children and individuals lacking the mental capacity to conduct legal proceedings themselves. Their injuries ranged from catastrophic, life-changing trauma to severe psychological scars. The largest payout, nearly £11.4 million, went to a teenager who suffered some of the most grievous injuries in the attack, according to Manchester Evening News. Other awards addressed both physical wounds and the long-term mental health impacts of witnessing such carnage at a young age.
The damages will be paid by a group of organizations found to have failed in their duties to protect concertgoers that night: SMG Europe Holdings (the venue’s operator, now known as Legends Global Services Limited), Showsec International Ltd (responsible for crowd management), Greater Manchester Police (GMP), and British Transport Police (BTP). The precise contributions of each defendant remain confidential, but all four have publicly apologized to survivors and bereaved families and acknowledged their failures.
This settlement follows an extensive public inquiry led by Sir John Saunders, whose findings painted a damning picture of missed opportunities and serious security shortcomings. The inquiry revealed that Abedi, dressed in black and carrying a conspicuous backpack, had been reported as suspicious by a member of the public—but was "fobbed off" by security. There was a CCTV "blind spot" in the arena, patrols by security staff were inadequate, and, shockingly, BTP officers took a two-hour lunch break to get a kebab just before the attack. These failures, as BBC News reported, amounted to what Judge Nigel Bird described as “a single and unimaginable act of terrorism” whose effects have rippled through countless lives.
Judge Bird, who approved the claims, addressed the court with solemnity and compassion. “Each of these cases has a common link, that is injuries and loss suffered, arising out of a single and unimaginable act of terrorism committed on the evening of May 22, 2017, at the end of a concert attended by very many young people and their families. Twenty-two innocent lives were lost and the lives of countless others impacted. The love and care a parent gives to an injured child is beyond monetary value.”
He continued, “Each, through their quiet determination, has brought about promises of change in the hope that in the future, other families need not go through what they have been through.” The judge also praised the “courage, dedication and fortitude” of the families involved in each case, recognizing the extraordinary resilience they have displayed over the past eight and a half years.
After the hearing, the legal teams representing the claimants—Hudgell Solicitors, Slater & Gordon, and Broudie Jackson Canter—issued a joint statement. “This is not a day of celebration. It is a moment to acknowledge the mistakes that were made and the unimaginable suffering our clients have endured over the past eight and a half years. Their strength and resilience have been extraordinary, and without that, we would not have reached this settlement. We now expect all parties to honour their commitment to do what they can to prevent those same mistakes from happening again. It has been a privilege to work on behalf of our courageous clients. We wish them only peace and strength as they look to the future.”
Importantly, the court has granted anonymity to all sixteen claimants and their families, recognizing the need to protect their privacy as they continue to rebuild their lives. The details of a further 352 claims—including those brought by adults and the families of the deceased—will be settled out of court, with specifics remaining confidential. These subsequent settlements are expected to be finalized soon, but no details of any public money to be paid out by GMP or BTP will be made public, as reported by The Guardian.
The legacy of the Manchester Arena bombing extends beyond compensation. In response to the findings of the public inquiry, “Martyn’s Law” was introduced, named in memory of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 victims. This legislation mandates stricter security protocols for public venues, aiming to ensure that the failures of 2017 are never repeated. The law requires venues to undertake a range of extra safety measures, from improved staff training to enhanced surveillance, in hopes of thwarting future attacks.
The civil proceedings and the inquiry have brought some measure of recognition and accountability, but for survivors and families, the wounds—both visible and invisible—remain. As the joint statement from the legal teams put it, “This settlement is about recognition, accountability, and a shared commitment to doing better. The courage and dignity shown by families and survivors throughout this process has been extraordinary.”
For the families of those killed—among them, four from the North East: Liam Curry, Chloe Rutherford, Philip Tron, and Courtney Boyle—the pain of loss is ever-present. For survivors, the settlement is a step toward justice, but as Judge Bird observed, “The love and care a parent gives to an injured child is beyond monetary value.” The hope now, as echoed by all parties, is that the lessons learned will lead to lasting change and that no family will have to endure such heartbreak again.
