1. 55pThursday, September 13, 2012MAIN EXTRATHE VOICE OF LIVERPOOL 40,977
RESTINTRUTH
NNOOWWFFOORR
JJUUSSTTIICCEEFans cleared, police shamed, 41 fans could have lived...Britain’s
biggest cover-up – Pages 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,70,71 & 72
CCOOAACCHH
CCRRAASSHH
TTEEEENN::
FFAAMMIILLYY
TTRRIIBBUUTTEE
FIGHTING ON:
Hillsborough
Family Support
Group President
Trevor Hicks and
Chair Margaret
Aspinall
Pages
14&15
55p

2. ★★ ★★
NEWS Thursday,September13,2012Thursday,September13,20122 NEWS 3
AT THE Liverpool ECHO,
we pride ourselves in
journalism that is honest,
accurate and fair.
Our journalists adhere
to the Editors Code of
Practice, which sets the
benchmark for high
professional standards and
is enforced by the Press
Complaints Commission.
If we do slip up, we
promise to set the record
straight on this page in a
clear, no-nonsense
manner.
To ask for an inaccuracy
to be corrected, phone
0151 285 8476, email
alastair.machray@liverpool
.com or write to Alastair
Machray, Editor, Liverpool
ECHO, PO Box 48, Old
Hall Street, Liverpool, L69
3EB.
● The Press Complaints
Commission (PCC) is the
independent body which
governs the newspaper
industry. The Code of
Practice and details of how
to lodge a complaint are
available from Halton
House, 20/23 High
Holborn, EC1N 2JD.
Website www.pcc.org.uk
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Inside today
Contact us...
If you have a story, contact:
Newsdesk .........................0151 472 2488/2401
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hillsborough
HILLSBOROUGH:
Full reports,
videos with
Trevor Hicks,
Margaret
Aspinall, Anne
Williams, plus
picture galleries
sign the e-petition today at
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/oliverking
Helpsave
livesnow
+ + HILLSBOROUGH: THE CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE ++ ++HILLSBOROUGH:THECAMPAIGNFORJUSTICE++
YOU SAY - VIEWS FROM OUR WEBSITE
TODAYISABOUT THETRUTH
TOMORROWIS FORJUSTICE
● Zack_Ryder: Mr Kenneth
Dalglish deserves a lot of
praise and a knighthood for
what he did 23 years ago.
He went to all 96 funerals,
it must have been mentally
draining for him. Kenny
Dalglish will always be a
legend. Rafa Benitez also
deserves credit for his help
for justice for these last
eight years. Some of you
might dislike Rafa but as a
human being Rafa is a kind
hearted man. Finally we
have justice after 23 years.
I hope MacKenzie rots in
hell! The 96 are at peace up
in Heaven
with
God,Shanks
& Paisley. RIP
fellow reds
YNWA xx
#SHUTDOWN
THESUN
● lazyjay: Surely MacKenzie
can be done for slander or
something. For all the
injustice and cover ups
people have got to start
paying the price.
There needs to be justice.
I hope the families can gain
some solace from today.
● Sterrixlane: This only
confirms what most of us
already knew but now the
truth is there for all to see.
Let us now have the one
thing we have all prayed for
and that is justice.
Someone gave the orders
to destroy and alter
evidence etc and
a long criminal
trail has to be
followed after
this victory but
it's a victory
that will not be
celebrated with
wild parties - maybe just a
sombre moment to recall all
this tragedy has meant.
● Martystardust: JFT96 - At
long last - Big respect to the
Blues coming on in support -
some things go far, far
beyond football banter.
● SunderlandJan1958: I’m
glad the prime minister has
said sorry for the way this
horrible heartbreaking
situation was handled all
those years ago.
I hope the whole truth will
be told and the family
members who have waited
so long to hear what really
happened will be able to
move on.
There’s a lot to discuss
not least the 3.15pm
timeline and why those still
living were not given the
urgent treatment to save
their lives.
Log on to www.liverpool
echo.co.uk for the latest
news, sport and more
online
PaddyShennan–
whohasreportedon
Hillsboroughfor23
years–onamoving,
momentousday
THERE had been days like this
before. Days when people had
hope in their hearts and great
expectations.
But they were few and far
between and, crucially, none of
them delivered. None of them
gave the bereaved families and
survivors what they needed
and what they deserved.
But this day – remember the
day, Wednesday September 12,
2012 – was different.
This was the day when cold,
hard facts replaced bare-faced
lies and a callous, cold-hearted
campaign of misinformation
and malicious slurs.
At the end of the
Hillsborough Family Support
Group’s mid-afternoon press
conference in Liverpool
Cathedral, I hugged Margaret
Aspinall, its tearful but
beaming chairwoman, who
then grabbed my arm and
said: “Wasn’t that brilliant?”
Yes, it was. It was
punching-the-air brilliant.
Because it was a day which
provided much more than
many of us had believed
possible.
It was a day of apologies (no,
Kelvin MacKenzie’s wasn’t
accepted), confirmations,
clarity, new information which
promises future accountability
– and a day, above all, of
vindication for the 96 who died
at Hillsborough, their families,
friends, the survivors and
their families and friends.
And yet, as each and every
person connected to
Hillsborough knew most
keenly of all, it was a day of
heartbreak.
Agonisingly, they learned
that 41 of the 96 men, women
and children who died at
Hillsborough could have been
saved if the emergency
response had been swift and
professional rather than slow
and pathetic.
As Margaret Aspinall
stressed: “We are still, and
always will be, the losers at
Hillsborough.”
That is why, amid all the
satisfaction associated with
being utterly vindicated – and
knowing that, at last, the rest
of the country now knows
what they have known for so
long about Hillsborough –
there is the despair created by
so many shocking revelations.
Three groups – the
Hillsborough Family Support
Group, the Hillsborough
Justice Campaign and Hope
For Hillsborough – gave
separate Press conferences
yesterday, and regrets were
voiced that people obviously
saw the need for more than
one organisation.
But people perhaps
sometimes overlook the fact
that this needless disaster
threw together families and
survivors from all walks of life
– people with different
opinions and, at times,
different needs.
The truly important thing is
that, together or not, the
various groups have achieved
incredible success in a world
that was foreign to them
before the catastrophic events
of April 15, 1989 changed their
lives forever.
I salute each and every
individual who has
campaigned to bring the
Establishment, kicking and
screaming, to this point.
It’s a crying shame that they
had to wait more than 23
years, but they are the ones
who made yesterday possible.
“THE truth is out today, justice
starts tomorrow.”
That was the defiant promise
made on the steps of Liverpool
Cathedral by the Hillsborough
families – finally vindicated after 23
long years.
The damning report into the 1989
disaster revealed a shocking
cover-up.
Families of the deceased punched
the air knowing the many wrongs
they fought so desperately to expose
had been acknowledged at the
highest level.
Now the fight for accountability
will begin in earnest and criminal
prosecutions are expected to follow.
President of the Hillsborough
Family Support Group (HFSG)
Trevor Hicks said: “The truth is out
today, justice starts tomorrow.”
Mr Hicks, who lost his two
daughters on the Leppings Lane
terraces on that fateful April day,
said the 395-page Hillsborough
Independent Panel report “totally
vindicated” fans portrayed as
mob-handed hooligans.
He said the report clearly exposed
a “contrived, manipulated, vengeful
and spiteful attempt to divert the
blame” in the wake of the tragedy.
Mr Hicks said: “We feel totally
vindicated.
“We have had all sorts of
accusations thrown at us. Over 23
years we’ve been accused of being
vengeful, spiteful, looking for a
scapegoat or looking for compen-
sation.
“All of this is a total load of
rubbish.
“If today says one thing to the
world, we are vindicated in our
search for the truth.”
The Hillsborough Independent
Panel, which was set up by the
previous government and spent
more than two years scrutinising
more than 400,000 documents,
received a standing ovation from
families.
Tears of joy, relief and anger were
shed – it is understood three
relatives collapsed upon learning
the full extent of the cover-up.
Mr Hicks said 40-50% of the
report contained new revelations,
not least the bombshell that up to 41
people might have survived had the
emergency response to the disaster
been better handled.
Mr Hicks said: “We know the
3.15pm cut-off point (the time at
which Sheffield coroner Dr Stefan
Popper controversially ruled all
victims were dead or brain-dead)
was unjust. But what we didn’t
know was that, quite possibly, as
many as 41 people might have been
saved.”
For Margaret Aspinall, who
chairs HFSG, that was a
jaw-dropping disclosure. Her son
James, 18, was among those who
died at Hillsborough.
She will find out today whether
he was perhaps among those who
could have been revived.
She told the ECHO: "That didn't
surprise me – it absolutely shocked
me. None of us know which families
they are yet. I don't know whether it
was James, my own son. When I
heard that, right away, I thought
'please God, it wasn't my son'. None
of us know.
"But we've got to deal with that
another day. Today is about what
we've achieved. We've exonerated
our fans and I'm so pleased for our
city. Our city takes an awful lot of
stick for a lot of things – whingeing
scousers. That's me.
“But we've been proven right. We
were right all along. It might not be
now, but this will be good for the
country as a whole because nothing
like will ever be able to happen
again.”
Asked if the 96 victims could now
rest in peace Mrs Aspinall added:
“We've got a bit further to go for
them but we'll get to that line. Once
we get to that line, they can
celebrate up there.”
Anne Williams, from Hope for
Hillsborough, who lost her son
Kevin, 15, in Sheffield, is among the
families hoping that fresh inquests
are now imminent.
The government’s top lawman,
the attorney general, will decide
within weeks whether to apply for
the “accidental death” verdicts to be
quashed.
Ms Williams, who has
campaigned for years for a new
hearing into her son’s death, said “a
weight had been lifted” after the
panel’s findings.
She told the ECHO: “I feel
different now, calmer and less
stressed out. The thought of being
able to wake up one morning and
not be thinking straight away about
files and documents is a welcome
one. I can't wait until I can know my
little boy is at peace, with a correct
death certificate, because I want a
life.”
Anne also singled out Reds fans
for praise and expressed her delight
they had been completely
exonerated from blame.
She said: “We've known all along
how magnificent the Liverpool fans
were on the day and how they helped
each other. Who knows how many
more might have died if it had not
have been for them?
"The way they've been treated
down the years is a disgrace so to
hear them getting the credit they
deserve makes us feel like all the
battling we've done has been worth
it. You do get tired of all the
knock-backs down the years but
now it does feel like they are finally
listening to us.”
Of the attempts to smear the
names of the dead by carrying out
police computer checks Sheila
Coleman, spokeswoman for the
Hillsborough Justice Campaign,
said: "I thought I was unshockable.
But that shocked me today."
Peter Hooton, of Liverpool band
The Farm, told the press conference:
"We have got truth in the document –
but we need to see action."
Stephen Kelly, whose brother,
Michael, 38, died at Hillsborough,
said: "There is one statement
missing from the front of the report
– The Truth. Kelvin MacKenzie
wants to get his hands on this."
News of an apology from the
former Sun editor – who claimed to
have been “totally misled” over the
paper’s shameful front page –
filtered into the press conference.
Mr Hicks condemned that
apology as “too little, too late”
calling MacKenzie “lowlife, clever
lowlife, but lowlife”.
by JOHN SIDDLE, DAN KAY
& SEAN BRADBURY
“Ifthetruthhasitsownpower,manywilltoday
beshakingintheirboots.”-Seepage10
The Voice of Liverpool
since 1879ECHO
VINDICATED: Jenni Hicks,
Margaret Aspinall and
Trevor Hicks at the press
conference in Liverpool
Cathedral yesterday
A WEIGHT LIFTED: Anne Williams on
the steps of St George’s Plateau with
Lord Mayor Cllr Sharon Sullivan
REMEMBRANCE: Sheila
Coleman of the
Hillsborough Justice
Campaign with Steve
Rotheram MP yesterday
ECHO REPORTING
TEAM: Paddy
Shennan, David
Bartlett, John Siddle,
Lorna Hughes, Ben
Turner, Tom Duffy,
Gemma Jaleel,
Helen Hunt.
Photographers:
Colin Lane, Jason
Roberts, Andrew
Teebay, Gavin
Trafford, Gareth
Jones

3. ★★ ★★
NEWS Friday,September14,2012Friday,September14,20122 NEWS 3
AT THE Liverpool ECHO,
we pride ourselves in
journalism that is honest,
accurate and fair.
Our journalists adhere
to the Editors Code of
Practice, which sets the
benchmark for high
professional standards and
is enforced by the Press
Complaints Commission.
If we do slip up, we
promise to set the record
straight on this page in a
clear, no-nonsense
manner.
To ask for an inaccuracy
to be corrected, phone
0151 285 8476, email
alastair.machray@liverpool
.com or write to Alastair
Machray, Editor, Liverpool
ECHO, PO Box 48, Old
Hall Street, Liverpool, L69
3EB.
● The Press Complaints
Commission (PCC) is the
independent body which
governs the newspaper
industry. The Code of
Practice and details of how
to lodge a complaint are
available from Halton
House, 20/23 High
Holborn, EC1N 2JD.
Website www.pcc.org.uk
or email
complaints@pcc.org.uk.
Telephone 020 7831 0022.
Helpline: 0845 600 2757.
ECHO Corrections & Clarifications
Price: 55p
Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Share Prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24seven
Voice of the ECHO . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
What’s On . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24seven
Inside today
Contact us...
If you have a story, contact:
Newsdesk .........................0151 472 2488/2401
General Inquiries ...................... 0151 227 2000
Email ....................letters@liverpoolecho.co.uk
Online ........................www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
EDITOR: Alastair Machray ..... 0151 472 2507
To contact Customer Services call our help
line on: 0151 472 2423 or e-mail us at:
customerservices@liverpool.com
The recycled paper content of UK
newspapers in 2011 was 78.9%.
Online today
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/
hillsborough
www.getintothis.co.uk
PETER GUY:
Full reaction to
Mercury Music
Prize 2012
HILLSBOROUGH:
Videos with
families and
survivors, read
the panel's full
report and view
our timeline of
the road to
justice
sign the e-petition today at
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/oliverking
Helpsave
livesnow
Got a
story?
Call the
newsdesk
on 0151
472 2436
ECHO
+ + HILLSBOROUGH: THE CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE ++ ++HILLSBOROUGH:THECAMPAIGNFORJUSTICE++
WasmyJames
amongthe41?
“Thefamiliesmustcomefirst,asthecaseforjustice
gathersmomentum”-Seepage10
The Voice of Liverpool
since 1879ECHO
Comingto
termswith
thereality
theirloved
onescould
havelived
by JOHN SIDDLE
HILLSBOROUGH families
will have the choice of
whether to be told if their
loved-ones are among the 41
victims who potentially
could have lived.
Those who wish to know
will be able to meet with
Hillsborough panellist, Dr
Bill Kirkup, who revealed
the devastating news at
Liverpool Cathedral on
Wednesday.
Margaret Aspinall,
chairwoman of the
Hillsborough Family
Support Group, said: “We
don’t know who the 41 are,
but I have put in a request
to see Dr Bill Kirkup from
the panel and I know Jenni
and Trevor Hicks have, as
well.
“The families have been
given the option – some
might not want to know.”
Margaret lost her
18-year-old son, James, at
Hillsborough, and said: “I
think ‘Oh God, was James
one of the 41?' And every
parent will be going through
the same thing. I woke up
sobbing this morning.”
The news that victims
could potentially have been
revived was the most
shocking disclosure made
by the panel.
Documents now in the
public domain portray years
of wrangling between
experts over the times and
causes of death.
A signed statement made
by James Burns, a forensic
pathologist at the Royal
Liverpool hospital, appears
to dismiss the
now-discredited
assumptions underpinning
Dr Popper’s original
inquests.
In the document, written
in support of six families
fighting for fresh inquests.
he described the claim that
all victims had died by
3.15pm from traumatic
asphyxia as “nonsense”.
He wrote: “It is quite
possible that someone
could survive two
minutes of intense
crushing if they get
the right medical help
quickly.
“There is no
way one
could
assert categorically that the
deceased died 3 or 4 minutes
after the compression
began, unless the pressure
they sustained had been
unrelieved.
“With respect to deaths
from traumatic asphyxia, it
is impossible to tell from
looking at a dead body how
long it took that person to
die.
“If trained personnel and
equipment had been
available at the scene of the
disaster then it is quite
possible that more could
have survived.“
Dr Burns added: “In order
to die from traumatic
asphyxia, there must be
unrelieved pressure for
around 3 minutes.
“The point about the
Hillsborough victims was
that some of them may have
experienced intermittent
pressure for up to half an
hour.”
FAMILIES of those who died at
Hillsborough were today absorbing
harrowing revelations that their
loved ones could have been saved.
As many as 41 of the 96 Liverpool
fans crushed in the Leppings Lane
end could have survived had there
been a swifter response to the
unfolding disaster.
The independent panel probe
ripped apart the controversial,
establishment view that Reds fans
were dead within minutes, after
suffering “traumatic asphyxia”,
and that all had perished by the
3.15pm cut-off time imposed by
Sheffield coroner Dr Stefan Popper
at their initial inquests.
Among the 400,000 documents
disclosed by the panel on
Wednesday the ECHO found a
six-page report compiled by a
leading pathologist who claimed at
least three victims he knew of still
had a fighting chance at life.
They are Liverpool supporters
Philip Hammond, 14, Michael Kelly,
38 and Kevin Williams, 15.
Dr Iain West, a consultant
forensic pathologist at London’s
Guy’s hospital, gave his expert
medical opinion into eight
post-mortem reports at a judicial
review of the inquests in 1992.
Of the three fans, Dr West wrote:
“I feel it is impossible to state purely
from the medical point of view that a
number of the young men [...] could
not have been alive at 3.15pm.
“Those dying as the result of
anoxic damage (oxygen
deprivation) consequent to their
chests being crushed could well
have survived for a much longer
period only to die subsequently
from the effects of irreversible
anoxia”.
Michael Kelly, 38, born and bred
in Old Swan, was the last of the
victims to be identified on the day,
his body kept in a church hall.
His brother Steve, a key player in
the Hillsborough Justice Campaign,
had always believed that Michael
was among the first to perish that
fateful April day.
The cause of death listed in his
death certificate reads “traumatic
asphyxia”.
But Dr West concluded that the
38-year-old warehouse worker
probably suffered a blockage of his
airways and may have survived had
he been placed in the recovery
position.
The pathologist wrote: “There is
nothing to indicate that this man
was definitely dead by 3.15pm –
indeed the evidence available to me
suggests otherwise.”
For Mr Kelly, the revelation
yesterday was a bombshell.
He told the ECHO: “I was under
the impression for many years that
Mike was among the first to be
pulled out and identified as dead.
“That, now, is totally distorted.
Not only is he one of the 96, he is
now one of the 41.
“The truth has come out and it
hurts. It’s no longer speculation, it is
cold, hard fact and it is hard to
take.
“Traumatic asphyxia doesn’t
come into it. He deserves a new
inquest, I hope he will get one.”
The Hillsborough Panel
described as “unsustainable”
notions that all victims succumbed
to a “a single, unvarying and rapid
pattern of death” and said some
victims could have been saved.
The panel found that 28 of those
who died did not die from traumatic
asphyxia with obstruction of the
blood circulation and asphyxia
“may have taken significantly
longer to be fatal”.
“There was separate evidence
that in 31 (victims) the heart and
lungs had continued to function
after the crush, and in 16 (victims) of
these it was for a prolonged
period.”
Families have the opportunity in
the coming days to find out
personally whether their loved-ones
are among the 41.
Dr West also suggests that Philip
Hammond, who was taken by
ambulance to a hospital after the
crush, was alive after 3.15pm and
also did not die from traumatic
asphyxia.
He writes: “Unconsciousness is
likely to be fairly rapid but death
could have taken a substantial
number of minutes and it would be
impossible, from a medical point of
view, to state that this boy was dead
at 3.15pm.”
Philip’s brother Graeme, 33, said:
“It highlights the ludicrousness of
the 3.15pm cut off point. People were
still alive and could have been saved.
The truth has come out in black and
white. What makes us all so angry is
the extent to which it has been
covered up.”
Philip’s mum, Hilda, said the
document corroborated the claims
of Dr Ed Walker, who rushed to the
Sheffield's Northern General
Hospital to deal with casualties.
The first person he treated was
Philip Hammond who, he says, was
still alive by 3.40pm.
Mrs Hammond said: “We always
thought he was alive after 3.15pm
but our hands were tied, because
that was the official cut-off point.
“We couldn’t do anything about
it. The inquests of everybody who
died that day need to be looked at
again.”
Anne Williams discovered eight
years after the 1989 tragedy that her
son Kevin was alive much later than
3.15pm.
She has fought relentlessly for a
fresh inquest, which now appears
tantalisingly close.
Dr West reported that Kevin
“could well have survived for a
considerable period, well beyond
3.15pm”.
That backs up the evidence of
special police constable Debra
Martin, who cradled the injured
teenager in her arms.
The officer, who later claimed to
be “bullied” by her superiors to
prevent her crucial evidence from
being made public, told how the teen
cried out for his mum as he was
being held.
Ms Williams, who runs the
campaign group Hope for
Hillsborough, said she
understood the apprehension
that families of the remaining
40 – possibly saveable –
victims currently felt.
She said: “I remember
when I was told Kevin could
have been saved. I was angry
because I had been lied to, but
glad to know the truth.
“To think ‘oh God, he could
have been saved’, was a
horrible thing to go through.
“At least I know how he died
because not knowing was the
worst. I feel for the other 40
families, I really do. My heart
goes out to them, it will be a
shock.”
Documents show Dr
Popper said he picked the
3.15pm time because of
“overwhelming pathological
evidence” that irreversible
damage had already struck.
The
inquests
mustall
be
looked
atagain
GRIEF: Michael
Kelly, 38
TRAGIC: Philip
Hammond, 14
JUSTICE: Kevin
Williams, 15
PROVED RIGHT: Phil Hammond always believed son Philip was alive after the 3.15pm
cut-off point
ANGER: Anne Williams ,who lost her
son Kevin, aged just 15,at Hillsborough
FACTS: Steve Kelly, a member of the HJC,
who lost brother Michael
ANXIOUS:
Dr Bill
Kirkup will
tell families if
their loved
ones could
have lived
ANGUISH: Margaret
Aspinall

4. ★★ ★★
NEWS Thursday,September13,2012Thursday,September13,20124 NEWS 5
++HILLSBOROUGH:THECAMPAIGNFORJUSTICE++ ++HILLSBOROUGH:THECAMPAIGNFORJUSTICE++
Log on to www.liverpool
echo.co.uk for the latest
news, sport and more
online
VIEWS FROM
OUR WEBSITE
● Sam Bristow: It makes
me feel sick just thinking
about how all these lies
must have gathered pace
like a snowball effect.
To think there are
people who could act this
out is disturbing. I truly
hope as many as possible
are held accountable.
● OtleyLad: Just to say
about time a government
of this country has decided
to come clean over this
shameful disaster.
But why has it took 23
years for the corrupt
politicians and police to be
found out?
● Peter Hooton: I couldn't
talk about Hillsborough for
ten years but today feels
like a lead weight has been
lifted - this is a momentous
day for many of the
survivors.
● mstrdrmz: MacKenzie
has only piped up now he
can shift blame on to
others. At the end of the
day he was the editor and
chose not to practice
caution/sensitivity. Still a
rat.
● Hooterto: Why has
MacKenzie waited until
now to say sorry? He has
had twenty odd years to
say this!
● John Byrne:
Dublin remembers our
Scouse cousins today. God
bless. JFT96.
● Jacqui Wooley: Heart
goes out to the families of
the 96. The road to justice
has been a long and hard
one to get the truth.
■ IF you would like to have
your say on the outcome of
the Hillsborough panel
report, we will be filming
people's reactions at our
offices in Old Hall Street
between 12noon and 1pm
today.
Anyone who would like
to be a part of our video
response to the report
should email
liverpooldigitaldesk
@gmail.com, call Jo Kelly
on 0151 472 2498 or tweet
us @LivEchonews with
their name.
The final video will be a
montage of people's
responses to the report
and will be uploaded to the
Liverpool Echo website.
People who register by
email, phone or Twitter
will be given priority but
those who do not register
are also welcome to come
down and have their say in
front of a camera.
The filming session will
take place at the Liverpool
ECHO offices between
12noon and 1pm today and
people should report to
reception on arrival.
Theworst
cover-up
Individualscouldbe
prosecutedover
Hillsboroughdeaths
inBritish
legal
history
HILLSBOROUGH families today
vowed to continue their journey to
justice following “the worst cover-up
in British legal history”.
Top lawyer Michael Mansfield,
QC, warned of the prospect of
prosecutions over the deaths of the
96.
The veteran barrister, acting on
behalf of Hillsborough families, told
the ECHO at least six individuals
could be prosecuted for gross
negligence manslaughter.
And those who amended witness
statements to shift blame for the
disaster could be charged with
perverting the course of justice.
The panel’s stark findings not only
revealed the numerous failings of the
police and ambulance services.
But it also exposed Sheffield
Wednesday and Sheffield City
Council’s failure to heed crowd
safety warnings in the years before
the disaster and how Hillsborough
stadium itself failed to meet basic
safety standards.
When asked if the biggest cover-up
in British legal history had been laid
bare Mr Mansfield replied: “The
short answer to that is, yes.”
Speaking of the likelihood of
criminal charges being pursued he
said: “If David Cameron means what
he says and justice has to follow
truth then they have a responsibility
today to assess not just the question
of unlawful killing but the cover-up
and the perversion of the course of
justice.”
Mr Mansfield added: “There was
no safety certificate then. They
breached the safety rules. That is the
beginning of serious negligence and
there is a causation relationship
here which the director of public
prosecutions will have to look at.
“There’s more than the police
here. It’s not just the police.
“Sheffield Wednesday need to
answer some questions and the
Sheffield authorities too on that
score.”
Mr Mansfield said culpability lay
at the doors of almost every public
body adding: “It is not just one
person who is responsible for what
happened. There is bound to be a
number of people [who could be
prosecuted]. We will look at all
avenues.”
A decision on whether to bring
prosecutions could take up to nine
months.
But first and foremost comes the
fight to have the initial inquests into
the 96 deaths quashed with
controversial “accidental death”
verdict recorded against each name
replaced with the words “unlawful
killing”.
The panel said there was a total of
41 victims either alive after 3.15pm –
the coroner’s controversial cut-off
time – or who suffered injuries
inconsistent with the findings of the
pathologists.
The attorney general Dominic
Grieve – the government’s top lawyer
– conceded that “significant issues”
had now been raised over the
discredited inquests.
He could apply to the High Court
within four to six weeks to have the
verdicts quashed.
Mr Grieve said: “I have not yet had
an opportunity to study the panel’s
report. But it is clear that they have
documented significant issues over
the original inquest.
“I will now consider whether
there is sufficient evidence to
support an application to the High
Court to quash the original inquest
and start a new inquest process.”
Mr Grieve acknowledged “the
wait for truth and justice has been
long and unspeakably painful for a
great many people”.
Within the confines of the Lady
Chapel at Liverpool Cathedral
yesterday members of the
Hillsborough Families Support
Group and Hillsborough Justice
Campaign said their first fight was to
win fresh inquests before pressing
for criminal action against those
involved.
Spokeswoman for the
Hillsborough Justice Campaign
Sheila Coleman said: “First and
foremost the attorney general should
quash the inquest verdict (of
accidental death) in all 96 cases and
organise fresh inquests.”
There had also, she said, been a
“clear conspiracy to cover up and I
think it’s important those criminals
are brought to book”.
Solicitor James Saunders, who
represents the Hillsborough Family
Support Group, said: “It is for the
attorney general to make an
application to the High Court to
quash the current inquest verdict
which was based on evidence that
had been tampered with and an
untrue picture of events.”
by JOHN SIDDLE
POLICEAPOLOGISEFOR‘UNTOLDPAIN’THEY
CAUSEDTHROUGHLIESANDLOSSOFCONTROL
SORRY: South Yorkshire chief
constable David Crompton
by BEN TURNER
OPTIONS: Lawyers Michael Mansfield, left,
and Lord Falconer at Liverpool Cathedral
yesterday. Mr Mansfield said the findings of
the panel revealed perversion of the course
of justice Picture: COLIN LANE
‘Justicehastofollowtruth’–Michael
MansfieldQC,families’lawyer
SOUTH Yorkshire police today
apologised for the “untold pain and
distress” their lies caused
Hillsborough victims’ families.
Chief constable David Crompton,
who was appointed in January, said
he was “profoundly sorry” for the
hurt caused, acknowledged the force
had “failed the victims and families”
and said “the police lost control”.
His apology came as the panel’s
report revealed police “doctored”
116 official statements and the then-
South Yorkshire chief constable
Peter Wright and his officers, with
the help of Tory MP Sir Irvine
Patnick, sought to cover up the
failings, briefing media that drunken,
ticketless fans and violence were to
blame.
It led to The Sun’s infamous “The
Truth” front page.
Mr Crompton said: “In the
immediate aftermath senior officers
sought to change the record of
events.
“Disgraceful lies were told which
blamed the Liverpool fans for the
disaster.”
The panel also revealed that
South Yorkshire ambulance service
also doctored statements to put the
service “in the best light”.
Yorkshire ambulance service,
which is now responsible for
covering South Yorkshire, also
apologised.
Extending his sympathies to the
families, chief executive David
Whiting said the trust had fully
co-operated, adding: “I sincerely
apologise for the shortcomings
identified in the report relating to
the way in which the incident was
managed in the early stages.”
Sheffield Council apologised for its
part in licensing and carrying out
“inadequate and poorly recorded
inspections” of Hillsborough.
Chief executive John Mothersole
said: “Our role has already been
subject to public inquiry, including
the Taylor inquiry, which found that
our actions at the time were
wanting and criticised. For that we
sincerely apologise.”
Sheffield news agency White’s,
which behind false press reports into
fans’ conduct, said it circulated the
allegations after reporters spoke to
Sheffield Hallam MP Sir Irvine and
another now deceased employee
spoke with senior officers.
It said: “The agency had no
control over how the allegations
were presented and were shocked by
the way the story was presented by
The Sun.
“We welcome the publication of
all documents relating to the
Hillsborough tragedy and hope it
brings some measure of closure for
those affected.”
The report found Sheffield
Wednesday’s ground “failed to meet
minimum standards”. The club
apologised and said it was “totally
transparent” in helping the report
be compiled.
The Football Association said it
would “like to commend the
Hillsborough Independent Panel for
their exhaustive and professional
work” and said it recognised “the
tireless commitment shown by so
many, particularly the Hillsborough
Family Support Group.”
South Yorkshire Police Federation
wants to digests the report before
commenting.
–Michael
MansfieldQC
“Somepeoplewillsinktoanydepthstosavetheir
ownmiserableskins–andjobs.”-Seepage10
The Voice of
Liverpool since 1879ECHO
READ MORE
Read the Hillsbor-
ough Independent
Panel summary,
full report and
the Taylor Report
at www.liverpool
echo.co.uk
/hillsborough
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