Alison Howe

Alison Howe, aged 45, from Royton, Greater Manchester was killed in the Manchester Arena bombing.

On 22 May 2017, at approximately 10:31 p.m., Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old British-Libyan man born in Manchester to Libyan parents, carried out a suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena in England at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. 

Abedi, a UK citizen who had recently returned from Libya, detonated a TATP-based nail bomb packed with shrapnel in the City Room foyer, killing 22 people (including children) and injuring 1,017 others (239 with physical injuries). 

His younger brother, Hashem Abedi (also British-Libyan), helped source materials and coordinate the attack from Libya; he was later convicted in the UK of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause an explosion, receiving a life sentence with a minimum term of 55 years. 

Alison Howe and her friend Lisa Lees were killed while waiting to pick up their daughters from the concert.

Her mother Sue Cann said she was “a very talented musician, loving and kind and someone people wanted to be around”.

“You could never feel sad or depressed when Alison was with you because she would always know the right things to say and do to snap you out of it.”

Childhood friend Tracy Green said her life had been “a rollercoaster full of fun and laughter with some sad times along the way”, but she had had such a dry sense of humour [which] made everyone smile, even when it wasn’t appropriate”.

Rest in peace Alison. You will not be forgotten.