Hillsborough inquest verdicts to be quashed
Attorney General wants new probe into 96 deaths
BRITAIN’S top law officer yesterday paved the way for new inquests to be held into the 96 deaths at Hillsborough. Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC said he was taking the ‘exceptional’ step of applying to the High Court to have the original verdicts of accidental death quashed.
His announcement came after a report into the 1989 disaster revealed last month that 41 fans could have been saved if the response of emergency services had been swifter.
It also revealed a vast cover-up by police and paramedics designed to blame Liverpool fans for the tragedy. Families of the victims hope new inquests will record verdicts of corporate manslaughter.
Mr Grieve said he was still considering the new evidence, but would apply for fresh inquests to be held on the basis of what he has already read. He said he was making the announcement early to ease the ‘anxiety’ of victims’ families.
‘My view is that I will apply to have every one of those 96 inquests quashed,’ he told MPs. ‘I believe that these deaths, arising as they do from a common chain of events, should all be considered afresh.’
It was clear there were ‘significant issues over the original inquest’, he added. But he admitted the new legal process ‘will take some time’ and acknowledged that ‘the wait for truth and justice has been long and
‘Unspeakably painful’
unspeakably painful for a great many people’.
The report into the Hillsborough disaster, headed by the Bishop of Liverpool, rejected the findings of the original inquests that no lives could have been saved after 3.15pm on the day.
Pat Joynes, whose son Nicholas, 27, was killed, said: ‘ I’m highly delighted. We want the accidental death verdicts quashed so we can get manslaughter verdicts.
‘I have spoken to different families over the weekend. That seems to be the opinion and it is what I would want as well – corporate manslaughter and manslaughter verdicts.
‘Ninety- six people can’t die and hundreds injured without someone being held responsible.
‘The truth, in my opinion, is finally coming out, I’m very pleased. We want to see justice. If that means police officers have to stand trial, well they should stand trial in a criminal court.’
Mrs Joynes, who lives near St Helens, Merseyside, added that she hoped any new inquests would be held in Liverpool.
Former Labour Justice Secretary Lord Falconer, who has advised the victims’ families, said David Cameron had made a ‘huge difference’ to the campaign.
‘You have a government, led by a prime minister, saying, “This is a huge injustice, let’s sort it out” – and that makes a real difference,’ he said.
Liverpool MP Steve Rotheram said the move ‘marks one of the biggest steps forward in the fight for justice for the families in 23 years’.
‘The undeniable fact is that the original inquest was unsound and this application, if successful, will mean that evidence will be able to be heard after the 3.15pm cut off imposed by the original coroner in the 1989 inquests,’ he added.
‘For the first time in over two decades, all the evidence can now be reviewed into the disaster and potentially a new verdict recorded on the death certificates of the deceased.
‘At long last, the full horror of Hillsborough will be on the public record alongside the names of the people and the organisations that are accountable for what happened.’
He went on: ‘The families’ heartache has been well documented but what is less well known is that some families have refused to pick up the death certificates of their loved ones who died on that day.’
Last month’s report concluded police officers had tried to smear the dead by checking them for criminal records and medics had tried to prove they were drunk.
Hundreds of statements were doctored to remove criticism of the authorities.