John Atkinson ‘should have survived’, say relatives, as emergency services issue unreserved apologies after inquiry
The family of a man who would probably have survived the Manchester Arena attack had he not been left to bleed to death by the emergency services said he had been “totally failed at every stage”.
On Thursday the inquiry into the atrocity identified failures in the emergency services’ response, which left victims with an “interminable” wait for treatment.
The police did not have an up-to-date plan of the Manchester Arena complex and so did not know where everything was.
The British Transport Police gold commander on the night of the attack was based in the south of England and also did not know the geography of the arena.
There were serious issues for emergency services trying to contact GMP’s force duty officer, Insp Dale Sexton, because his mobile number was the same one used by journalists seeking information on the atrocity.
Sexton made a “significant mistake” in not swiftly declaring a major incident. His error was not rectified until nearly 1am the following day.