The mothers of two teenage victims of the Manchester Arena bombing tragedy say they are still unable to grieve due to rules around registering a death if it is subject to an inquest. Lisa Rutherford and Caroline Curry met Home Office officials last week to discuss this issue - which they have been campaigning on for years - but have been left 'upset'.
This meeting, which has only added to their distress, comes as the third volume of a major report into the horrendous events of May 22, 2017, is set to be released this coming week. The atrocity claimed the lives of 22 concert goers, including Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19, Lisa and Caroline's children.
Relatives say the couple, who’d dreamed of one day getting married, were “inseparable” in life. Under current legislation, family members can't provide the information needed to register a death if it has been the subject of an inquest. Details are instead sent to the relevant authorities by a coroner but Lisa and Caroline say this is preventing them from grieving for their children more than five years on from their loss.
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In an interview with GB News to be broadcast today, Caroline said: “All I want to do is give these details, his name, his address, my name as the informant. That’s all I want to do. That to me will begin my grieving process. So why should a bureaucrat take that away from me as a parent?"
Speaking about her son Liam, she added: "I just want to be able to do the right thing for our kids. I wish these ministers could just for one minute take off the office job head and put on the parent head."
Lisa added: “We have had so much taken away from us when we lost the kids, you know, at the end of the day because of the circumstances. Along with the pain of all of that, this just seems cruel.
"We definitely are not in any grieving process. I’m still stuck in that, that day, that night. Things like this just add extra unnecessary upset. It’s really hard and has taken a physical and obviously mental health is impacted and understandably for everyone involved."
Paying tribute to daughter Chloe, Lisa continued: "Chloe just lived life to the full. They were, you know, in their prime of life, enjoying college, new jobs, university and they had plans."
Their MP, Emma Lewell-Buck, told GB News: "They felt very disrespected in the meeting. The Home Office Minister from the Lords was quite patronising."
A Government spokesman said last night: “The government remains steadfast in our commitment to the families whose lives have been devastated by the senseless attack at Manchester Arena. Currently, after an inquest all details must be provided by the coroner alone, any change to the law would need to consider its wider impact, including how it would affect those bereaved families who do not wish to provide information to register the death when they have already provided this to the inquest. We acknowledge the seriousness of this matter and are committed to seeing what can be done via non-legislative means, we have offered the bereaved families the option of being present at the registration of their loved one’s death if they wish to do so."
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