THE ATTORNEY General has today applied to the High Court for new inquests to be held into the deaths of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster.
Dominic Grieve has lodged papers to quash the original “accidental death” verdicts which have for 23 years prevented any meaningful inquiry into the lack of care received by the 96 Liverpool fans who lost their lives in Sheffield.
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Mr Grieve said: “I believe that the case for the High Court to quash the original inquests is a good one.
“My application has now been lodged with the Court. It is my intention to appear to argue the case at the hearing that will take place in the High Court.”
Anne Williams, who has campaigned tirelessly for over two decades to get justice for her 15-year-old son Kevin and had three previous attempts to overturn the inquests rejected, was delighted.
Anne said: “I am buzzing - I’m over the moon that it’s finally happened.
“This document is what I’ve been fighting the system to get hold of for 23 years.
“I can’t believe I’ve finally got it here in front of me in black and white.
“I just keep looking at the words over and over again in case I’m seeing things or reading it wrong.
“I’ve had all this evidence for a long time and presented it to previous Attorney Generals, who didn’t do their job properly and rejected it for supposedly ‘not being in the interests of justice’.
“It is terrible how this has gone on for so long but the main thing is the right things are now happening.
“I just hope there isn’t too much red tape involved and they are able to set a date for Kevin’s inquest soon.”
The Attorney General’s office said the application aims to meet tests set out in Section 13 of the Coroners Act, the most relevant of which are the discovery of new facts or evidence and that it is necessary or desirable in the interests of justice that new inquests should be held.
The main ground for the application is the new medical evidence that 41 fans had the “potential to survive” beyond original coroner Stefan Popper’s 3.15pm cut-off point.
A supporting factor is also the revelation that police and ambulance service statements were changed to shift blame onto fans.
The safety record of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium is also another supporting element.
The views of the families were sought before filing the application, an all support the quashing of the inquests and the ordering of new ones.
The coroners for South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire (in the case of Tony Bland, who died in 1993 when his life support machine was switched off) were also contacted and support the application.
The application will now be heard by the High Court, but a date has not yet been set for the hearing.
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