A SURVIVOR of the Manchester Arena bombing says he feels 'some sense of closure' with the man guilty of plotting the attack now behind bars.

Lee Jones, from Cuddington, took his daughter Nadia to the Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017, when 22 people would go on to lose their lives in the atrocity that followed.

After a two-day hearing at the Old Bailey last week, Manchester-born Hashem Abedi will serve at least 55 years in jail for plotting the attack, which was carried out by his older brother Salman.

"I was pleased to hear [of the sentencing] and feel some sense of closure," Lee told the Guardian.

"I heard one of the family members say she thought it needed to be a strong message in the face of terrorism and I agree with that.

"There are some that would call for a sentence that matches the crime – a death penalty – but I would not agree with that."

Lee still bears the mental scars of what happened that night more than three years on from the attack.

Northwich Guardian:

The keen rower, who took on the Boston Rowing Marathon just four months after the bombing, says the memories can be triggered by the most trivial thing.

He said: "I'm alright generally, but it doesn't go away. I could be doing something and then all of a sudden a sight or smell would trigger it.

"On the river between the Blue Bridge and and the Hartford railway viaduct, there is a lot of wild garlic with a really distinctive smell.

"Every time I row that part and smell that it really triggers the memories."

While members of the audience rushed out from the arena in panic after hearing the sound of the bombing, Lee decided not to follow the crowd with his daughter.

It is a decision that the 52-year-old still thinks about today.

He said: "I find myself playing over the event time and time again in my head and wondering whether I did the right thing.

"My immediate response was not to rush and panic but instead to wait for the panic to subside – not to go out the same way.

"As a consequence we saw different things and had different experiences to many people there.

"It is quite often that that comes into my mind – was it the right thing to do? Should we have followed everyone else instead?"

The atrocity also took its toll on Nadia, who was only 12 years old at the time of the blast.

Northwich Guardian:

"She doesn't really talk about it," added Lee.

"I think she probably was a lot more traumatised by it than she has ever really let on.

"She has certainly struggled, and she seems to be doing OK, but it has been a long journey for her."

Hashem, from Fallowfield, was handed 24 life sentences last Thursday for plotting the attack.

The 23-year-old was found guilty in March of 22 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder encompassing the survivors, and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.

He refused to attend the courtroom during a two-day sentencing last week.

Northwich Guardian:

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, the Old Bailey judge who sentenced Hashem, said: “The motivation for them was to advance the ideology of Islamism, a matter distinct to and abhorrent to the vast majority for those who follow the Islamic faith.

“The defendant and his brother were equally culpable for the deaths and injuries caused.

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“The stark reality is that these were atrocious crimes, large in their scale, deadly in their intent, and appalling in their consequences. The despair and desolation of the bereaved families has been palpable.”