By Andrew Warshaw
October 17 – Dominic Grieve, Britain’s Attorney General, is applying to have the verdicts of “accidental death” for the 96 fans killed in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster quashed.
Grieve announced the move in Parliament in his response to last month’s Hillsborough Independent Panel report that highlighted a shocking cover-up by police
The report made global headlines when it revealed that 164 police statements were altered – 116 of them to remove or change negative comments about the policing at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
It said police and emergency services had made “strenuous attempts” to deflect the blame for the disaster on to fans and that 41 of them could potentially have been saved.
The victims’ families have always challenged the original inquest verdict of accidental death.
“I will apply to have every one of those 96 inquests quashed,” Grieve (pictured below) told the House of Commons.
“I believe that these deaths, arising as they do from a common chain of events, should all be considered afresh.”
The Attorney General’s announcement follows confirmation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and the Director of Public Prosecutions that the biggest ever independent investigation into police wrongdoing is to be carried out into the disaster.
The announcement does not necessarily mean that criminal charges will follow.
But the request is likely to be granted by the High Court, leading to fresh inquests.
Liverpool Walton 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 Hillsborough Independent Panel had spent 18 months looking through more than 450,000 pages of documents relating to the fatal crush.
Trevor Hicks, chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said the families would meet the Attorney General to decide the likely next steps.
“We have waited 23 years; due process will have to take place,” said Hicks, who lost two teenage daughters in the disaster.
“We are pleased he has pointed out it will be 96 fresh inquests.
“We didn’t want any differentiation between those who might have been saved and those who would not.”
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