Manchester bombing victim played final prank on mum, inquiry hears

"Joker'' Philip Tron played one final prank on his mother shortly before he was killed in the Manchester Arena bombing, a public inquiry has heard.

The hearing into the atrocity on May 22 2017 was told of the final movements of Mr Tron, 32, from Gateshead, who had driven his partner and her two daughters to the city.

Mr Tron, his mother June Tron, partner Deborah Hutchinson and her daughter, Courtney Boyle, sat in their vehicle in a car park at the back of Manchester Victoria railway station before the end of the Ariana Grande concert which Ms Boyle's younger sister, Nicole, attended.

Mrs Tron recalled how her son "cheekily'' filled in rude answers in her quiz book before he went with Ms Boyle, 19, who also died in the tragedy, to collect Nicole.

She said: "Once Philip got out of the car he was mimicking walking up and down the stairs by the car door.

"Philip then knocked on the car window and said 'Mam, I owe you one' while flipping his middle finger to make me laugh. That was the last time I saw my son.

"When the bomb went off the car shook. We just knew it was a bomb.''

She told the inquiry she discovered the following evening that her son and Ms Boyle had died.

Mrs Tron said: "Philip's death has had a devastating impact on me and all of my family.

"We miss Philip greatly and four years on still feel like we are in a terrible dream that we wish we could wake up from. We feel Philip with us all the time.''

The inquiry heard Mr Tron was standing four metres from bomber Salman Abedi when he detonated his device in the City Room foyer at 10.31pm.

Mr Tron was found to have died from multiple injuries, which were unsurvivable.

'An act of real dignity for my son'

His mother thanked British Transport Police (BTP) Constable Jessica Bullough for covering him with a T-shirt in the foyer.

She said: "I'm grateful for her doing this which I see as an act of real dignity for my son.''

She was accompanied in the courtroom by Mr Tron's twin sister Rachel and his uncle, Ken Mullen, who said: "We, as family, remember him always as a joker who made people laugh ever since his school days including one teacher who used to hold him back on a Friday night to tell a joke before he went home.''

Inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders said to the family: "Philip was clearly a larger than life character.

"We need as many people as Philip did who can make us laugh so that makes his loss all the greater but his spirit of fun has left you with many happy memories and he will live on through those.''

The inquiry is currently looking at how and in what circumstances each of the 22 victims died and to probe whether any inadequacies in the emergency response contributed to individual deaths and/or if they could have been prevented.

The mother of 15-year-old Olivia Campbell-Hardy told her daughter she loved her after the teenager texted to say Grande was about to appear on stage, the inquiry heard.

'Olivia was a joy'

Olivia, from Bury, Greater Manchester, was "extremely excited'' to be at the concert with her friend, Adam Lawler.

Her mother, Charlotte Hodgson, messaged her back to say she loved her and to keep her phone on so they could stay in contact.

Olivia later entered the City Room foyer shortly before the blast and was five metres from the bomber when the detonation took place.

The inquiry heard she died from head and neck injuries, which were unsurvivable.

Appearing via videolink, Mrs Hodgson said her daughter "packed so much'' into her 15 years, always made people laugh and was a "hugely talented singer'' who had a promising future ahead of her.

The teenager's father, Andrew Hardy, his wife, Sharon, and Miss Campbell-Hardy's grandparents, Steve and Sharon Goodman, were present at Manchester Magistrates' Court.

Mr Goodman said: "To Sharon and myself and our large extended family, Olivia was a joy.''

Thanking her family for their evidence, Sir John said: "Believe it or not there are times when even lawyers are lost for words and this is one of them. Can I just say - what a talent, what a waste, what a lovely person.''

The inquiry is currently looking at how and in what circumstances each of the 22 victims died and to probe whether any inadequacies in the emergency response contributed to individual deaths and/or if they could have been prevented.