A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the older brother of the Manchester Arena bomber for failing to give evidence at the public inquiry into the attack.

Ismail Abedi, who fled the UK last summer, did not attend a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Last month, the 29-year-old was found guilty in his absence of failing to comply with a notice which compelled him to co-operate with the inquiry into the May 2017 atrocity.

He faces a jail term of up to 51 weeks for the offence if he is captured or hands himself in.

Prosecutor Sophie Cartwright QC told the court that notification of yesterday’s hearing had been sent to Abedi’s last known address.

An email was also sent to an address he had previously used to correspond with the solicitor to the inquiry as well as a message to his former solicitors, she said.

District Judge Jack McGarva said he was satisfied that Abedi was aware of the hearing and also noted that the proceedings had had a “great deal of publicity”.

Issuing a warrant without bail, he said: “We will now have to wait for him to be apprehended.”

Abedi’s brother, Salman, 22, killed 22 people, including Eilidh MacLeod, 14, from Barra, when he detonated a suicide bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

Sir John Saunders, the chairman of the public inquiry, had demanded Ismail Abedi appear at the hearing.

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In May 2020, Ismail Abedi was asked to provide a witness statement but, in July of that year, he responded in writing, saying he would not provide one, “because I am concerned about the risk of self-incrimination”.

The judge previously found Abedi guilty of failing without reasonable excuse to do something required by a notice under Section 21 of the Inquiries Act.

After refusing to answer questions on the grounds he could incriminate himself, Abedi, who uses the name Ben Romdhan, fled the UK despite Sir John demanding he appear at the hearing.

Abedi was stopped by police at Manchester Airport on August 28 last year and told them he was planning to return to UK the following month.

However, he caught a flight at the same airport the next day and his current whereabouts are unknown.

The inquiry also wanted to question the Chorlton IT worker about a 2015 “port stop” at Heathrow Airport when his phone was found to have a “significant” amount of “very disturbing” material described as of an “Islamic State-mindset” on it.

He also had potential evidence to give, the inquiry heard, on the preparation of the Arena bomb, given his DNA was found on a hammer in a car used to store the explosives.

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His father, Ramadan Abedi, was associated with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a militia that had links with terror organisation al Qaida, the public inquiry heard.

Ramadan Abedi lives in Libya, has also not co-operated with the inquiry, and police want to question him as a suspect.

Bereaved families labelled Ismail Abedi a “coward” for refusing to answer questions.

Lawyers for some of the families said they remain “gravely concerned” about how he was able to leave the country last year.

He was listed for the hearing under his alias, Ishmale Ben Romdhan. Abedi has denied any involvement with the Arena attack.

Abedi had already been questioned at length by the police, and was concerned for the safety of himself and his family.

Kim Harrison, of law firm Slater and Gordon, which represents 11 of the victims’ families, said they welcomed the issuing of the arrest warrant for Abedi but were concerned that he had been allowed to leave the country in the first place.

“We welcome the arrest warrant that has been issued for Ismail Abedi today and expect all of the relevant authorities to do their utmost to ensure he has to answer the many questions we have about what happened that night,” said Harrison.

“We remain gravely concerned as to why Abedi was able to leave the country before giving evidence to the inquiry in the first place.

“His leaving the country should never have happened, and despite the conviction he is unlikely to face any real justice until he is apprehended, if at all.

“The families deserve to know the truth about what happened that night and the contempt Ismail Abedi has shown them is truly despicable.”

The public inquiry began in September 2020 with Sir John saying it was an “exercise in establishing the truth”.“If I conclude things went wrong then I shall say so, but we are not looking for scapegoats,” he said.