New Hillsborough inquests set for early 2014

A coronor at the High Court in London today announced new inquests for the 96 fans killed at Hillsborough.

Hillsborough-FlagThe original verdict of 'accidental death' was quashed by the High Court back in December.  The new inquests will take place early next year - with the location to be announced next week.

Some families had asked for it to be held in London whilst others asked for it to be held in the North West.

There are ongoing criminal investigations and an investigation by the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) but Lord Justice Goldring ruled that he would not wait for these to be completed before beginning the inquest.

He mentioned Anne Williams who recently passed away when giving his decision:

"Anne Williams' death is a powerful reminder, if one were needed, that there is an urgency attaching to the commencement of the inquest hearings as well as a need for that investigation to be as full as possible."

The HFSG who represent 71 of the families requested the hearing be held in London due to its impartiality no later than next January.

The Hillsborough Justice Campaign however asked for it to be held in the North West of England.  Barry Devonshire said:

"We would prefer Manchester, Preston or Chester because families will be able to travel in the North West and we don't think it's possible for a Liverpool jury to preside over the inquest.

"We don't have a bottomless bucket of funds to keep travelling to London."

The original inquests were held in Sheffield.

Leave a Reply

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.