A man hailed a “homeless hero” following the Manchester Arena bombing has pleaded guilty to stealing from victims of the terror attack.

Members of the public raised more than £50,000 for rough sleeper Chris Parker after he described running towards the scene of the carnage in order to help.

Twenty-two people died when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device as crowds left an Ariana Grande concert on May 22.

Parker, 33, who was begging outside the venue, said that his “gut instinct” was to help a little girl and a woman in her 60s, who suffered serious leg and head injuries.

“She passed away in my arms. She was in her 60s and said she had been with her family,” he told the Press Association at the time.

“I haven’t stopped crying.”

But on Wednesday Parker pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to stealing a purse and a mobile phone from those caught up in the tragedy.

He is due to be sentenced on January 30.