Manchester Arena bombing inquiry: Father of teenage victim says Salman Abedi should 'rot in hell'

‘I hope he rots in the deepest, darkest part of hell,’ father tells hearing

The father of a teenager killed in the Manchester Arena attack has said the bomber should “rot in the deepest, darkest part of hell”.

Simon Callander’s 18-year-old daughter Georgina was among the 22 victims murdered by Salman Abedi on 22 May 2017.

He told a public inquiry into the attack said her potential had been “snatched away by an evil person who did not even know her or care”.

“A person who did not know what a very special person he was about to murder,” Mr Callander said. “I hope he rots in the deepest, darkest part of hell.”

The father said he would “never get over” the loss of his daughter, adding: “To this day I stand in the window looking for her ... walking back down the road after school.

”Sometimes other school kids remind me of her for a second but no, that's not my Georgina.“

Ms Callander was to study paediatric nursing at Edge Hill University and was working part-time at a supermarket near her home in Hesketh Bank, Lancashire, before the course started.

Her mother Lesley previously told the inquiry of her "daily, living nightmare" and how she wished she had died in the bombing instead.

Later on Thursday’s hearing, tributes were paid to teenage couple Liam Curry and Chloe Rutherford, and their “love story” together.

Mr Curry, 19, and Chloe, 17, were from South Shields and had already mapped out their lives together.

“They wanted to be together forever and now they are,” Mr Curry's mother, Caroline, told the hearing.

“Chloe and Liam were together, falling head over heels in love. She was his Juliet and he was her Romeo."

The couple had gone to the Ariana Grande concert together as a Christmas gift.

Chloe, a keen singer and performer, had begun an apprenticeship in travel and tourism and Mr Curry planned to join the police after graduating from Northumbria University.

His father, Andrew, passed away just two months before the bombing after a long illness.

“Only eight weeks after the passing of his dad, evil ripped out our family's heart and stole my baby boy,” Ms Curry said. "I'm in terrible pain that has no ending."

The couple had already mapped out buying a flat, planning a wedding and Chloe had spoken of having children.

Mark Rutherford, Chloe's father, said: “Chloe was 17 and Liam 19, with so much living to be done, all the stories not yet told, all the dreams not yet dreamt.”

Tributes were also heard for Philip Tron, 32, who was killed alongside his 19-year-old step-daughter Courtney Boyle as they waited for her younger sister to leave the concert.

Mr Tron’s uncle, Ken Mullen, told the hearing he also had a daughter from a previous relationship.

”Philip had a huge heart, and a huge personality to match,” he added. “His overriding ambition was to have a happy family life with lots of children around him.”

The tributes were heard during the fourth day of commemorative hearings for the victims killed in the bombing, which will continue next week.

Tributes have also been paid to Ms Boyle, Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, Megan Hurley, 15, John Atkinson, 28, Martyn Hett, 29, Kelly Brewster, 32, Lisa Lees, 43, and Polish couple Angelika and Marcin Klis.

The public inquiry, chaired by Sir John Saunders, was adjourned until Monday morning.

It will continue into next spring to examine the background to the attack and the response of the emergency services.

Additional reporting by PA