British intelligence missed a chance to stop the 2017 Ariana Grande concert attack

British intelligence missed a chance to stop the 2017 Ariana Grande concert attack Enlarge this image toggle caption Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images Britain's domestic intelligence agency didn't act quickly enough on information that could have helped prevent a 2017 suicide bombing that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert, an inquiry found Thursday. Retired judge John Saunders, who chaired the inquiry into the Manchester Arena attack, said the MI5 failure to act swiftly led to "this significant missed opportunity." Saunders said MI5 could have acted on its intelligence by stopping Abedi at the Manchester Airport when he returned from Libya four days before the attack, as well as other opportunities. "Gathering covert intelligence is difficult – but had we managed to seize the slim chance we had, those impacted might not have experienced such appalling loss and trauma," MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said in a statement.