The parents of the youngest victim of the Manchester Arena attack have hit out after the bomber’s brother had access to hot oil to launch an attack on prison guards.
Heartbroken Andrew Roussos said it was “crackers” that Hashem Abedi had access to a pan of hot butter and the materials to make a blade which he used to stab prison officers at maximum-security HMP Frankland, in Durham, last week.
His eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose Roussos was just five metres from Abedi’s brother Salman when he detonated a suicide bomb at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester arena on 22 May 2017, killing 22. His wife Lisa, 56, barely survived the blast, which embedded 126 pieces of shrapnel in her body.
The family, who for a time believed Saffie had been killed instantly, since learned she survived for 69 minutes and that opportunities to save her were missed.
For the family, who have co-written a book about their fearless daughter, the recent prison attack represents yet another failure from the authorities in the fight against the Abedi, who is serving a 55-year minimum sentence for helping his brother plan the bombing.
“I mean, it is crazy,” Mr Roussos told the Daily Mail. “It's crackers. How does a man like that get access to A, B and C, whatever it is, to allow him to make knives? He's able to be there with a pan of hot butter? On what planet is that... I mean, you can't even get your head around it.”
The Prison Service has launched a snap review into whether protective body armour should be given to front-line staff and suspended the use of kitchens in separation units - used to keep high-risk prisoners away from the rest of population - in response to the shocking incident.
Asked about Abedi, who was known to MI5 along with his suicide bomber brother before the atrocity, the father, 51, said: “These people are what they are: extremists, murderers. We shouldn't be surprised when they try to maim and kill. It's like getting a dog then being surprised when it barks.
“But I do blame the authorities, because it is their job to stop them. I blame the system for letting these people do what they did - and what they are still doing, even when they are inside and supposedly in the most secure prison possible.
“The softer you are, the more they walk all over you. They [the authorities] were soft from the start - they had the intelligence on these guys, and still they let them slip through the net.”
Lisa, who was told there was a 90 per cent chance she would never walk again after the blast, said she refuses to dwell on the brothers that took her daughter’s life.
“I refuse to give them my thoughts,” she said. “But I do believe that it's wrong to let all these extremists live together and talk together in prison. They must be having a great time, being fed and watered and allowed to hang out together.”
The family’s attempt to sue MI5 last year failed because too much time had passed since the bombing.
“From the moment the bomb was detonated - in fact even before it, given what MI5 knew - it has been a complete shambles with one thing after another,” added Lisa.
“So many mistakes were made. So many times people say, ‘That shouldn't have happened’. Now this. If you made it up, people would say it was too far-fetched.”
The public inquiry into the bombing identified a string of failures in the emergency response to the terror attack, including a failure to declare a major incident, shortages of first responders with only one paramedic at the scene for the first 40 minutes after the explosion and fire crews taking too long to attend.
The inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders said victim John Atkinson's injuries were survivable "had he received the care and treatment he should have", adding: "In the case of Saffie-Rose Roussos, it is highly unlikely that she could have survived her injuries.
"There was only a remote possibility she could have survived with different treatment and care."
The parents, who have relocated to rural Dorset with their surviving son Xander, have brought Saffie’s bedroom with them.
The eight-year-old’s pink slippers sit by her bed, along with her straw hat and sunglasses, while a cuddly toy of snowman Olaf, from Disney’s Frozen, sits in the corner.
Paying tribute to Xander, now 19, who has helped the family pull through, Mr Roussos added: “That lad became a man. He and Saffie were inseparable but very different - she was fearless and he was more timid. But he's become the fearless one now.”
SAFFIE: The Youngest Victim Of The Manchester Terror Attack And Her Family's Fight For Justice, by David Collins, is published by Silvertail Books on 24 April at £12.99
