Families tell of 'disgust' as trespassers urinate on memorial garden

Families tell of ‘disgust’ as trespassers urinate and vomit on the memorial garden for Manchester Arena bombing victims after tearing down security fences before it’s even officially been opened

• Families of victims killed in Manchester Arena attack ‘devastated’ by trespassers
• The Glade of Light memorial had the security fences pulled down on Sunday 
• Trespassers urinated and vomited on memorial site, which is for the 22 victims
• Located in Manchester city centre, the Glade of Light set to finish by new year

Families have told of their ‘disgust’ after trespassers urinated and vomited on the memorial garden for the victims killed in the Manchester Arena terror attack before its official opening.

Caroline Curry, from South Shields, whose 19-year-old son Liam was killed in the bombing alongside his girlfriend, Chloe Rutherford, 17, said she had been left devastated by the trespassers entering the site.

22 people were killed and hundreds were injured in an horrific terror attack carried out by suicide bomber Salman Abedi after an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.  

The Glade of Light memorial site in Manchester’s city centre was created to provide a ‘tranquil place’ of ‘remembrance and reflection’ for families and friends of those who tragically lost their lives. 

Families have told of their ‘disgust’ after trespassers urinated and vomited on the Glade of Light memorial site in Manchester’s city centre (pictured)

It was was created to provide a ‘tranquil place’ of ‘remembrance and reflection’ for families and friends of those who tragically lost their lives and features the names of the 22 victims  (pictured)

Liam Curry, 19, and Chloe Rutherford, 17, (left) both from South Shields, were murdered as they left the Ariana Grande concert in 2017.  Kelly Brewster, 32, (right) from Sheffield, tragically lost her life after she entered the City Room, the foyer of the Arena

However ‘hundreds of people’ have been walking through the garden despite it being closed to the public and not officially opening until the new year.

Ms Curry said one man stood on the central stone of the memorial, which contains the names of those who lost their lives, and was ‘abusive when she challenged him, whilst another woman vomited over the site’, she told the BBC.   

Manchester City Council reportedly sent a security team to the garden to keep people out until the incident can be fully investigated on Monday as a ‘matter of urgency’. 

Kelly Brewster, 32, from Sheffield, tragically lost her life after she entered the City Room, the foyer of the Arena, just seven seconds before suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated his home-made rucksack bomb at 10.31pm on May 22, 2017.  

She was standing just nine metres away and suffered un-survivable injuries to her abdomen and head, one of 22 fatalities in the City Room.

Her sister, Claire, who also was hurt in the blast, said she was ‘devastated’ to see people moving the fences to walk cut through the site after she arrived in Manchester on Sunday. 

Ms Curry and Ms Brewster teamed up on Sunday to try and keep people out of the site as best they could.

Manchester City Councillor Pat Karney said they will do what is needed to ‘keep the site secure’ and there is ‘no excuse for the kind of behaviour in and around the memorial site witnessed by the bereaved relatives’.  

The Glade of Light features a white marble ‘halo’ ring, which stands at the centre of the site and has the names of those who lost their lives set in bronze. 

Ms Curry said one man stood on the central stone of the memorial, which contains the names of those who lost their lives, and was ‘abusive when she challenged him

Manchester City Councillor Pat Karney said they will do what is needed to ‘keep the site secure’

Personalised memory capsules, filled with memories and mementoes of the 22 victims will provided by their loved ones and embedded within the halo-shaped stone. 

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester council, said in September: ‘Manchester will never forget those who lost their lives on 22 May 2017 and everyone so deeply affected by the terrible events that night.

‘This memorial promises to be a beautiful tribute to them, a place for remembrance and reflection and a lasting part of the fabric of our city.’ 

Greater Manchester Police have been contacted for comment regarding the incident.

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