Disaster Trolls: 2. Sharpening the Spike

Martin and his daughter suffered life-changing injuries in the Manchester Arena bombing, but one conspiracy theorist claims to have gone to great lengths to try to prove otherwise.

Eve, then 14, and her father were the closest people to the blast to survive the 2017 terror attack, in which 22 people and the bomber were killed.

During the months that followed, Martin was shocked to be told about false claims, promoted by conspiracy show host Richard D Hall, that the bombing was faked. Hall accused him and other survivors of lying about their injuries. But then to Martin’s even greater horror, he discovered Hall had shared a video with his followers online where he demonstrated how he would set up a camera to film Eve - now profoundly disabled and in a wheelchair - to see whether she could in fact walk.

In this BBC Radio 4 podcast series, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring, investigates how survivors of UK terror attacks and tragedies are targeted with horrific conspiracy theories, online abuse and threats.

Across this series - and in this episode - there are graphic descriptions of violence. This episode contains audio from Richard D Hall’s website.

Presenter: Marianna Spring Producer: Ant Adeane Editor: Ed Main