Face to face at court, Hillsborough police chief and mum who lost two daughters
HER face a picture of resolve, the mother of two Hillsborough victims yesterday stared down one of the five men charged over the disaster.
Jenny Hicks, who lost daughters Sarah, 19, and Victoria, 15, had been waiting for Norman Bettison and his coaccused to arrive at court. As the men walked past, relatives of other victims held up pictures of lost loved ones.
Sir Norman, 61, a former chief constable of Merseyside and West Yorkshire, is accused of misconduct for allegedly lying about his involvement in the disaster that killed 96 Liverpool fans.
Two other retired officers – Donald Denton, 79, of Sheffield, and Alan Foster, 70, of Harrogate – face charges of perverting the course of justice along with solicitor Peter Metcalf, 67.
Graham Mackrell, 67, the former safety officer of Sheffield Wednesday, the club which hosted the match in 1989, is accused of two safety offences. All five indicated yesterday that they would be entering not guilty pleas. David Duckenfield, who was match commander and faces 95 counts of gross negligence manslaughter, has not yet been formally charged. The 72-year-old cannot be charged over the death of one of the 96 – Anthony Bland – because he died almost four years later. Around 30 relatives of the victims packed the public seating inside Warrington Magistrates Court. Lawyers sat in rows three-deep while more relatives watched the proceedings via a videolink.
All five were bailed before a trial hearing at Preston Crown Court on September 6.
Afterward the hearing, Lorraine Glover, who lost her 20-year-old brother Ian, said: ‘It was just nice to see the five of them standing there.’
She described the atmosphere among the families as ‘quite sombre’.