Grieving Manchester bomb families have called for a former senior police officer to be stripped of his royal medal.
The demand came after ex-Chief Insp Dale Sexton was criticised in a damning review of emergency service failures.
Mr Sexton was handed a Queen’s Police Medal by Prince William at Buckingham Palace for his reponse to the 2017 terror attack which killed 22.
But tonight the dad of youngest victim Saffie-Rose Roussos, eight, led calls for the 2019 honour to be taken back.
Andrew Roussos, whose daughter was one of two victims who could have been saved if the officer had given the OK for paramedics to enter the area, told the Sunday People : “He should be stripped of the medal, 100%. If he had any humanity about him, he’d be knocking on the door of Buckingham Palace and posting it through the letterbox.
“It’s the ultimate insult he has been rewarded for bravery when his mistakes let Saffie down. How can that man sleep at night? He was in a key command role and he totally messed up. To go and receive an award for his actions and his bravery, that’s just wrong.”
Charlotte Hodgson, whose daughter Olivia, 15, died, backed calls to remove the now-retired officer’s gong.
She said: “He failed but has accepted the award and been able to retire on full pension. It is disgusting.”
Then an inspector, Mr Sexton was duty officer in his force’s command room when Islamist Salman Abedi, 22, detonated his suicide bomb as crowds left an Ariana Grande gig at Manchester Arena.
Mr Sexton was one of six key commanders rapped by the public inquiry. It found that the arena City Room – where the bomb exploded at 10.31pm – should have been declared safe by Mr Sexton for paramedics 19 minutes later. Saffie arrived at hospital about 52 minutes after the blast and was declared dead at 11.40pm.
Nicola Brooks of law firm Broudie Jackson Canter, which represented five families including Saffie-Rose’s, said: “Dale Sexton let down the families. Our clients call on him to return the medal.”
Mr Sexton is also under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct for allegedly concealing information from an earlier review. Today he could not be reached for comment.
