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| Manchester attack: Homeless 'hero' Chris Parker admits stealing purse and mobile phones from bomb victims | Manchester attack: Homeless 'hero' Chris Parker admits stealing purse and mobile phones from bomb victims |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A homeless man who was hailed as a “hero” for helping victims of the Manchester attack has admitted stealing a purse and mobile phone at the scene of the bombing. | |
| Chris Parker, 33, was in the foyer of Manchester Arena when an Isis supporter detonated his homemade bomb amid crowds pouring out of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May. | |
| He gave emotional media interviews but disturbing CCTV footage played in court showed him wandering between victims bleeding on the floor. | |
| Parker, now living in Halifax, admitted two counts of theft and one of fraud on the first day of his trial at Manchester Crown Court. | |
| But he denied attempting to steal a person's coat and three other counts of fraud. | |
| The court heard Parker stole a purse and phone belonging to Pauline Healey as her 14-year-old granddaughter Sorrell Leczkowski was dying metres away. | |
| Mrs Healey was injured and lying on the ground at the time, with Parker taking the items from her handbag. | |
| Parker admitted using one of the grandmother's debit cards in McDonalds, but denied allegations he also used her bank cards in Tesco and on transport. | |
| Mrs Healey, her granddaughter and her mother Samantha Leczkowski had been in the foyer to meet loved ones who attended the concert. | |
| Mrs Healey underwent 15 hours of surgery to remove shrapnel from her body and also suffered multiple compound fractures to her arms and legs, while Ms Leczkowski was also seriously injured. | |
| Sorrell, a pupil at Allerton High School in Leeds, was hoping to be an architect and wanted to study at Columbia University in New York. | |
| Parker later gave a moving account of the aftermath of Salman Abedi’s terror attack, which killed 22 people, in several media interviews. | |
| “It knocked me to the floor and then I got up and instead of running away, my gut instinct was to run back and try and help,” Parker said at the time. | |
| “There was people lying on the floor everywhere. | |
| “I saw a little girl... she had no legs. I wrapped her in one of the merchandise T-shirts and I said 'Where is your mum and daddy?' She said, 'My dad is at work, my mum is up there'.” | |
| Parker said he also tended to a woman who suffered serious head and leg injuries in the blast, adding: “She passed away in my arms. I haven't stopped crying. | |
| He was praised around the world for his efforts to help the injured, with news reports sparking a crowdfunding campaign that raised more than £52,000. | |
| GoFundMe told The Independent it was still “in full control of the funds”, which have not reached Parker. | |
| A member of the public who set up the page previously said that all money could be returned to donors depending on the outcome of the trial. | |
| Additional reporting by PA |