Jailed terrorist Hashem Abedi has admitted for the first time his involvement in planning the Manchester Arena bombing which killed 22 people, a public inquiry has heard.
Among those who were killed in the atrocity were young South Shields couple Liam Curry, 19, and Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Gateshead teenager Courtney Boyle, 19, and her mother’s boyfriend, 32-year-old Philip Tron.
Abedi, 23, made the admission in County Durham's maximum security Frankland prison where he is being held.
He was visited there by two members of the inquiry's legal team to be interviewed as part of the inquiry into the atrocity that took place on May 22, 2017.
The brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, had pleaded not guilty earlier this year to 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.
He did not give evidence at the Old Bailey but provided a pre-prepared defence statement in which he denied involvement, claimed to have been "shocked" by what his brother had done and did not hold extremist views.
He went on to be convicted by a jury of all the offences and was handed 24 life sentences in August with a minimum term of 55 years before he can be considered for parole.
On October 22 Abedi was interviewed in prison where he admitted he played "a full and knowing part", the inquiry was told.
The news was revealed during an exchange in the inquiry between Paul Greaney QC and Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Barraclough.
Mr Greaney QC said: "This will be news to others.
"On the 22 October, during the course of that interview, Hahem Abedi admitted that he had played a full part, and a knowing part, in the planning and preparation for the Arena attack."
DCS Barraclough replied: "That's a fair summary.
"There was no doubt in my mind."
Abedi's brother detonated a rucksack bomb in a foyer area of the Arena, known as the City Room, at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people and injuring hundreds more.
The inquiry is investigating the circumstances that led to the blast and is due to run through to spring next year.
The people who were killed were: off-duty police officer Elaine McIver, 43; Saffie Roussos, eight; Sorrell Leczkowski, 14; Eilidh MacLeod, 14; Nell Jones, 14; Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15; Megan Hurley, 15; Georgina Callander, 18; Chloe Rutherford, 17; Liam Curry, 19; Courtney Boyle, 19; Philip Tron, 32; John Atkinson, 28; Martyn Hett, 29; Kelly Brewster, 32; Angelika Klis, 39; Marcin Klis, 42; Michelle Kiss, 45; Alison Howe, 44; Lisa Lees, 43; Wendy Fawell, 50; and Jane Tweddle, 51.
