Verdict of unlawful killing ‘is not the end’
THE mother of a Welsh teenager who died at Hillsborough says she feels vindicated after an inquest jury ruled he was one of 96 fans unlawfully killed.
Joan Hope, 76, of Holywell, Flintshire, lost her 18-year-old son John McBrien in the disaster in April 1989.
Mrs Hope has been calling for a verdict of unlawful killing since the original 1991 inquest into the tragedy ruled the deaths were an accident.
She said: “Now it’s been achieved and so I’m very pleased about that because that’s what it should have been in 1991. We’ve waited a long time for that but at last we’ve got that and it’s good.”
Now Mrs Hope wants to see criminal proceedings following yesterday’s verdict.
She said: “It’s not the end but it’s a really a big step in the right direction.
“Anyone who caused the events should be punished. They took away the lives of 96 people and [caused] no end of suffering for the families.”
The latest inquest heard police records showed two victims – Mr McBrien and 21-year-old Steven Fox, from Birkenhead, – were confirmed dead both in the gymnasium and at the Leppings Lane end of the ground.
Stuart Gray, a Liverpool fan who lost consciousness in the crush, told the inquests he “came to” and had tried to save Mr McBrien.
In a statement to the inquest Mrs Hope described her son as kind, generous, charismatic, remarkably mature, talented and modest.
He was studying A-levels in mathematics, politics and economics and was due to start at Liverpool University in the autumn of 1989.