He also said the 3.15 cut off point  meant “families of the victims did  not regard the process that  culminated in those verdicts as  satisfactory, they believe it was  wholly inadequate”.

“In our judgement the 3.15 cut-off  point presents not only the most  dramatic but perhaps the most  distressing aspect of the material.”

He said it had four particularly  “troublesome consequences”.

Firstly that many of the victims  might have survived past that point  had there been a better rescue  operation. Secondly that it had not  allowed for examination of further  contributing factors or omissions  which led to deaths. Thirdly, he said  the failure of police control had not  been looked at. And fourthly the  way other organisations responded  had not been examined.

Lord Judge said: “In our  judgement this area of evidence is  sufficient in its own right to justify  the quashing of the original  inquests.” He also said the  “reprehensible” alteration of  statements by the police could be a  factor for the new inquests to look at  adding: “The efforts by some to  conceal neglect may have some  reflection on the cases.”

The judge quoted the  independent panel’s report which  exposed unheeded safety warnings  at the Hillsborough stadium.

And he said he wanted the new  inquests to be held in a  non-adversarial way unlike the  original inquests which were  “scarred” by the legal battles.

“The effects must be that the  truth, however distressing, or  unpalatable will be brought out into  the light. Let’s pause for the  memory of each of the victims who  should be properly respected.”

Margaret Aspinall, chair of  Hillsborough Family Support  Group, said: “It is a momentous day  and means so much to us. We have  been fighting for this for 23-and-a  half years.

“We have been desperate to get  the verdicts overturned.”

Sheila Coleman, of the  Hillsborough Justice Campaign,  said: “This truly is a momentous  day for those that have fought for 23  years from those dark days in  Sheffield when the accidental death  verdict was recorded.

“The intervening years have seen  a lot of other victims. The quashing  of the verdicts, while 23 years too  late, is the first phase in righting the  wrong that is Hillsborough. It is the  first phase on the road to justice.”