Manchester attack hoax claims ‘will not be tolerated’ – survivor

He said: “We certainly shouldn’t have needed to be here in court to make a stand and to protect others from this kind of behaviour.”

He told reporters outside court that it had been very difficult but he had to take a stand “to protect the most beautiful thing in my life, my daughter Eve”.

Salman Abedi killed 22 people and injured hundreds when he detonated the homemade rucksack-bomb in the crowd of concert-goers, with the court told that the Hibberts were some of the nearest people to Abedi at the time of the blast.

But Mr Hall claimed that several of those who died are living abroad or were dead before the attack, telling the court he believed that no-one was “genuinely injured” in the bombing.

In his closing arguments, Jonathan Price, for the Hibberts, said the pair had “suffered the most appalling tragedy”.

“Eve’s life was just beginning. She was just flourishing at the age of 14. It is hard to imagine a greater tragedy, even had she died,” he added.

He called Mr Hall’s conduct “objectively harmful” and “offensive, and known by the defendant to be offensive”.

Paul Oakley, for Mr Hall, said that Mr Hibbert said that his client, previously an engineer, “actually believes what he’s saying”.

Mr Oakley said: “It’s clear from the evidence, I suggest, and from the cross-examination of Mr Hall, it has never been suggested that he is making things up.”