Families of Hillsborough victims call on Attorney General to hold fresh inquest into their deaths

  • Lawyers for families request for new hearing to be held in Liverpool
  • Traumatised officers got 30 times more in compensation on average than parents whose children died in the tragedy
  • Sixteen police officers received compensation totalling £1.5million in the aftermath of the disaster
  • Parents whose children were killed received £3,500 plus funeral expenses
  • Ninety-six Liverpool fans were crushed to death at the football stadium in April 1989

By
Rob Preece

07:17 EST, 16 September 2012


|

05:42 EST, 17 September 2012

Lawyers acting on behalf of families of those killed in the Hillsborough disaster will today write to the Attorney General demanding that new inquests be held in Liverpool.

The Hillsborough Families Support Group (HFSG) met at Anfield yesterday to discuss the next step in its campaign for justice for the 96 victims of the 1989 disaster.

High-profile lawyers for the campaign, Michael Mansfield QC and Lord Falconer, appeared via an internet videolink.

Disaster: An injured fan is carried on a stretcher during the tragedy at Hillsborough in 1989. Families of the victims have demanded fresh inquests for their loved ones

The HFSG said it had instructed its
lawyers to send letters out to ‘relevant parties’, including the
Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions, to ‘ensure
that the machinery of the justice system is put into motion and the
families receive a fair hearing’.

Following the three-and-a-half hour
meeting, Trevor Hicks and Margaret Aspinall, chairwoman of the HFSG, who
lost her son James, 18, in the tragedy, gave a statement to the media
in which they expressed their desire for the inquest verdicts to be
overturned and new inquests to be held in Liverpool.

Mr Hicks, from Keighley, West
Yorkshire, who lost daughters Vicky, 15, and Sarah, 19, in the disaster,
said: ‘This goes beyond Hillsborough.

‘What was exposed on Wednesday was a
disgrace to the nation, not just the families…This goes across society
and it’s important for society at large not to let this rest.’

Determined: Trevor Hicks, who lost two daughters in the disaster, said it was ‘important for society at large not to let this rest’

The statement on behalf of the HFSG,
reads: ‘The findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel have finally
vindicated the families in their 23-year struggle to establish the
truth.

‘However, after truth must come justice. We have spoken today to our lawyers and taken initial advice.

‘As the families have always believed
and insisted, it was the actions and inaction of those in authority
that caused the deaths at Hillsborough on April 15, 1989.

‘The fans did not contribute to the
tragedy. Any blame previously laid at their door has been shown to be
part of a despicable conspiracy by those in authority to tarnish the
reputations of the dead, the survivors of the disaster and the people of
Liverpool.

‘This conspiracy has been revealed for what it is; a bid to avoid accountability.

‘Those responsible can avoid accountability no longer.’

The HFSG says there are now three avenues which it will ‘rigorously follow’ in the search for justice:
new inquests to be held in Liverpool and not Sheffield; a ‘full and
immediate’ investigation into criminal prosecutions to be brought
against those responsible; and, where appropriate, families will apply
for civil proceedings to be re-opened where they may have been dismissed
or settled ‘on a false basis’.

The damning Hillsborough Independent
Panel report revealed a cover-up took place to shift the blame on to the
victims and that 41 of the 96 lives lost at Sheffield Wednesday’s
stadium could have been saved.

The panel found that 164 police
statements were altered, 116 of them to remove or alter ‘unfavourable’
comments about the policing of the match and the unfolding disaster.

Reviews have been ordered by police
authorities in West Yorkshire into the actions of Sir Norman Bettison,
West Yorkshire Police’s current chief constable, who was an off-duty
inspector with the South Yorkshire force when he attended the game in
1989, and was involved in an internal inquiry held by the force in its
aftermath.

‘Double standards’: The average compensation payout for police officers traumatised by the disaster was £93,000 – 30 times the statutory level of compensation received by parents whose children were crushed

West Midlands Police, which also conducted an investigation into the disaster, will also carry out a review.

South Yorkshire Police, which still
employs 195 officers who were on duty at the ground on the day of the
tragedy, said the force would refer itself to the IPCC.

Chief constable David Crompton said
South Yorkshire Police would consider asking the IPCC whether those
involved in the Hillsborough tragedy should face manslaughter
investigations.

Meanwhile, South Yorkshire Police
Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, has apparently
defended its former secretary, Paul Middup, who was named by the panel
as having briefed the media that fans were drunken and violent as the
disaster unfolded.

Mr Middup told a federation meeting
in April 1989 that he had been given a ‘free hand’ to push the police’s
version of events, and spoke of his ‘pride’ at the media briefings he
had given.

He has refused to apologise and,
although he retired from South Yorkshire Police in the late 1990s, he
still works at the force’s headquarters as chief executive of the South
Yorkshire Police Credit Union.

The federation’s current chairman, Neil Bowles, said: ‘We are not going to comment on anything our predecessors did.

‘We co-operated with the panel and allowed our minutes to be published – and that was with the co-operation of Paul.

Remembered: The names of all the 96 Hillsborough victims are displayed at St George’s Place in Liverpool city centre following the publication of the panel’s report

‘Just because the report has made
those comments does not mean that he has done anything wrong. That is
for an investigation and court of law to decide.’

Responding to suggestions that Mr
Middup’s criticism of the victims had been immoral, Mr Bowles said: ‘We
represent officers’ views.

‘If officers told me something that
was contrary to what was happening in the Press at the time, then I
might want to put that view across.’

It emerged yesterday that police
officers who claimed trauma after Hillsborough were given more than
£90,000 in compensation on average, while families of children killed in
the tragedy typically received only £3,500.

Sixteen officers received payments totalling £1.5million in the aftermath of the event.

The
average payout for officers was £93,000 – 30 times the statutory level
of compensation received by parents whose children were among the 96
Liverpool supporters crushed to death at the football stadium in
Sheffield in 1989.

Some of the bereaved claim they received as little as £1,000.

The
shocking imbalance – revealed in papers published this week by the
panel – has caused more upset to families who waited 23 years for
justice after details of the disaster were covered up by police.

Mr
Hicks said he received a fraction of the amount received by some of the
police officers who were on duty on the day of the disaster.

He told the People: ‘Many who
lost family members have received nothing. Yet we are seeing large
amounts awarded to people who perhaps shouldn’t have taken jobs in the
first place.

‘It should be fair and equitable for all. This is double standards.’

Findings: Hillsborough Independent Panel members (from left to right) Peter Sissons, Bishop of Liverpool The Right Reverend James Jones and Professor Phil Scraton present their report

Mrs Aspinall said she received only £1,200.

‘There are people who think we got millions,’ she said. ‘That couldn’t be further from the truth.’

The
panel’s report stated: ‘In cases that concerned the death of children,
their parents received no more than the statutory bereavement allowance
of £3,500 and funeral expenses.

‘Cases that concerned the death of adults survived by dependants resulted in higher payments.

‘Compensation
for those who endured physical or psychological injury was assessed on
the nature and extent of the injury, resulting loss of earnings or any
ongoing medical costs.’

The
panel found that compensation claims from South Yorkshire Police (SYP)
officers ’caused considerable tension within the force’.

It
states: ‘Senior officers viewed the claims with “great concern” and
junior officers felt “immense pressure” from the force to withdraw
them.’

The report continues: ‘£1.5million was ultimately paid out by SYP to 16 officers.

‘The costs were met from the force’s employers’ insurance cover.’

A spokesman for South Yorkshire
Police said: ‘Compensation tariffs for personal injury or conditions
such as post traumatic stress disorder are defined by law.

‘The
payments received by officers, victims and families of victims
following the Hillsborough Disaster were not determined by South
Yorkshire Police.’

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

WELL SAID, WHITTAK ST HELENS

Louise
,

Liverpool,
17/9/2012 14:42

No!No!No!.Still far too many unanswered questions to get dirty handed lawyers to cloud things over even more.

Neville
,

Norwich,
17/9/2012 12:25

These statements have proved the Police to be Corrupt, the Government Corrupt, and local councillors complicit, Never, ever again will I trust one of the aforementioned!

Grumpy Grandad
,

Warrington,
17/9/2012 12:10

Why are people always shocked every time a stone is turned over and we are reminded how corrupt this country is?

Colin Camper
,

Les Sables France,
17/9/2012 12:09

Somebody should be prosecuted, nothing less will do! Enough is Enough!

Grumpy Grandad
,

Warrington,
17/9/2012 12:06

Suddenly it has changed from a search for truth and justice to a quest for money.” How very sad.
– PM, Ronda, NaN/NaN/NaN NaN:NaN

NOT ONE OF THE HILLSBOUROUGH FAMILIES HAS MENTIONED COMPENSATION IN THIS STORY THEY HAVE AND WILL ALWAYS FIGHT FOR THE TRUTH.
SHAME ON YOU FOR SUGGESTING THIS

Whittakt
,

St helens,
17/9/2012 09:57

Police falsified witness statements!

50% of the people who died could have survived if the police had acted correctly.

And the police receive such compensation payments

No action so far has been taken against the police.

Something is wrong with our society may be it’s the establishment!!!

Eric
,

Devon,
17/9/2012 09:40

Incredible. My sister in law who is a senior nurse, saw all the child victims of a shooting massacre in Dunedin.NZ She was the nurse in charge and naturally got nothing and expected nothing.

Dee
,

Nelson, New Zealand,
17/9/2012 09:37

The Police Farce always have looked after their own. Utter disgrace!

bambazonke
,

Worcester,
17/9/2012 09:35

Plod should explain how they twisted the system to get so much

mouse45
,

Horsham,
17/9/2012 07:16

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