Tributes were paid to the 'unique and special' lives lost in the Manchester Arena bombing as evidence at the public inquiry into the atrocity drew to a close.
Hearings began on September 7, 2020, and continued, remotely, through the Covid pandemic lockdown.
Split into 14 chapters, the inquiry has examined aspects of the terror attack in painstaking detail, with dozens of witnesses called and hundreds of statements gathered.
READ MORE:
Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, said on Tuesday - day 192 of the inquiry - that no more oral evidence would be given 'in relation to the deeply complex and highly important issue of the adequacy of the emergency response on the night of the Arena attack'.
Further evidence surrounding MI5 and counter-terrorism police will be heard over a day in February - followed by two days of closing statements from counsel representing beavered families and other parties involved in the inquiry on the 'planning and preparation of the attack, preventability and the radicalisation' of mass murderer Salman Abedi, whose suicide bomb killed 22.
Figen Murray, mother of victim Martyn Hett, 29, said as evidence concluded 'it seems that every chapter of the inquiry highlights the failures of the security and emergency services'.
She said: "We can't turn back the clock, but we can learn lessons to ensure that these failures are not repeated in the wake of another attack."
Mr Greaney said: "Over the course of this part of the hearings, we have heard evidence of great heroism by a large number of individuals who responded to this outrage.
"We have heard directly the extremely affecting evidence from some of the survivors, and those who helped them, about their harrowing experiences on the night.
"Most powerfully, we have heard the extraordinary and moving evidence of the experience of each of those who died and we have rightly been reminded of who they were as people, of the joy they brought to those around them and of how deeply their loss is felt and will always be felt .
"They were, each and every one of them, as has been said a number of times, unique and special people.
"The inquiry has sought to capture something of that as part of the evidence we have heard during this part of the hearing and we are confident that that will stand publicly for all time."
The chairman, retired High Court judge Sir John Saunders, said it was 'a matter of concern' that 'a number of the issues which we have been discussing at great length are issues that actually pre-dated this attack'.
He said: "They are obviously very difficult issues, but clearly they need to be sorted out and dealt with, if at all possible, as soon as possible."
Sir John published his first report into security arrangements at the Arena last summer.
He said Abedi should have been identified as a 'threat' and challenged.
'Disruptive intervention' should have been taken against him - and lives could have been saved as a result, Sir John found.
"Had that occurred, I consider it likely that Salman Abedi would still have detonated his device, but the loss of life and injury is highly likely to have been less," he said.
The report was critical of SMG, the owners of the Arena, the stewarding company Showsec, and British Transport Police (BTP).
Sir John said the security arrangements for the Arena 'should have prevented or minimised the devastating impact of the attack' and found there were a number of missed opportunities to stop Abedi - or minimise the dreadful outcome of his murderous attack.
SMG, the Arena's owners, Showsec, and BTP were 'principally responsible for the missed opportunities', the report said.
But Sir John also said he found there were 'failings by individuals who played a part in causing opportunities to be missed'.
Two further reports are due - but no timescale for their publication has been revealed.
They will focus on the response of the emergency services to the attack and whether the security services and counter-terrorism police could, and should, have prevented the bombing, a report which is also expected to consider the radicalisation of Abedi.
Speaking on Tuesday, Sir John said there was a 'huge amount of material'.
"Nobody should think for a moment that the job of writing all this up and coming to sensible conclusions and recommendations is ever going to be easy. It's a very big job which I personally find extremely daunting.
"But please don’t anybody expect it to be quick because there is a huge amount of evidence to go through and analyse before we get to that state."
The inquiry itself was established in October 2019 by the Home Secretary to explore the circumstances leading up to, and surrounding, the terror attack.
Abedi detonated a device in a rucksack as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert at the Arena on May 22, 2017.
The attack claimed 22 lives - the youngest an eight-year-old girl. Sixty three people were seriously injured and 111 hospitalised.
The inquiry will resume for the final time on February 14.
