MI5 'struggling to cope' with workload in years before Manchester Arena bombing

MI5 investigators were 'struggling to cope with a significant increase and change in workload' in the years before the Manchester Arena attack, the public inquiry into the 2017 bombing atrocity heard.

One security service witness said he raised concerns over the 'triaging of intelligence' from 2015, saying he was 'worried something could potentially get through' due to the amount of information they had to consider, a document reveals.

The increased workload was said to have been the result of Islamic State declaring its 'caliphate' in 2014 in Iraq and Syria.

A senior MI5 witness - known as 'Witness J' - said the security service 'appreciated' before the declaration it should take steps to 'pre-empt a shift to extremism in Syria', but he was 'surprised by the pace of the change'.

The witness, however, said he was 'not aware of any examples of resources having an impact on any decisions or judgements relating to' suicide bomber Salman Abedi.

Behind closed doors hearings of the inquiry not open to the bereaved families, the public or the media took place over 10 days in November last year to protect national security.

The hearings assessed what was, or wasn't, known about Abedi, and others, and how intelligence was acted on. Five MI5 and seven counter-terror policing witnesses gave evidence, and a report by an expert witness was considered.

A 'gist' document of evidence heard which has been assessed as able to be publicly reported has now been revealed. The document runs to 15 pages over 55 paragraphs.

Bereaved families said in a statement after its release they were 'deeply shocked and appalled' to hear the MI5 North West investigative team were struggling to cope from 2015.

"To hear that concerns had apparently been