Hillsborough Disaster: Inquests Set For 2014

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

New inquests into the deaths of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster will begin in early 2014.

At the pre-inquest hearing at the High Court, Lord Justice Goldring said he will not be able to set a firm date until June. 

The judge explained he needed time to consider where the inquests would take place and would announce his decision next week.

Relatives of the victims have fought for more than two decades to get the original inquest verdicts of accidental death quashed.

The High Court overturned the verdicts in December. New evidence of a police cover up in the aftermath of the crush was published in the Hillsborough Independent Panel report last September.

Relatives hold up a picture of Anne Williams with a photo of her son Kevin

About 30 relatives of the 96 Liverpool fans who died have travelled to London to be at the hearing. Family members who could not make the journey have been watching via videolink at Liverpool Crown Court. They would like fresh inquests to return verdicts of unlawful killing.

Opening the proceedings Lord Justice Goldring paid tribute to the families who he said "have not ceased in their pursuit of understanding the details of the events of that day".

Submissions have been heard from barristers representing the families, some of whom would like the inquests to take place in London while others say they would be unable to attend unless they were held with a commutable distance of Liverpool.

There was a gasp of horror from the families watching in Liverpool when Lord Justice Goldring said if he waited for criminal investigations to run their course the inquests would not begin for another two to three years.

He went on to say that the recent death of Anne Williams, whose son Kevin died at Hillsborough, was a reminder, if one were needed, of the urgency to proceed with the process.

Anne Williams, who died last week, lost her son Kevin at Hillsborough

Mrs Williams passed away last week after being diagnosed with terminal cancer last year. She had been one of the most prominent campaigners for fresh inquests into the deaths.

Meanwhile the police watchdog, the IPCC, has issued an update on its investigation into the Hillsborough disaster, describing it as "the biggest criminal and misconduct investigation ever conducted into the police in England and Wales".

It has confirmed it is seeking legal advice because a small number of organisations have been resisting disclosure of documents. However, it said it was unable to name the organisations in question.

It has managed to obtain in excess of 20,000 documents, including some from the Thatcher archive. Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister at the time of the Hillsborough disaster in 1991.

The IPCC is continuing to work through a long list of police officers who are believed to have some connection to the Hillsborough disaster. This includes a list of 1,444 from South Yorkshire Police, plus an additional list of around 400 people from about 30 other police and non-police organisations.

A fan looks at the memorial to those who died

It has confirmed it has already interviewed five retired officers from West Midlands Police. The force carried out the initial independent investigation into events at Hillsborough.

IPCC Deputy Chair, Deborah Glass, said: "It is six months since I announced our independent investigation into the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster.

"I am very aware that the recent 24th anniversary of the disaster, and the very sad deaths of John Glover and Anne Williams, remind us all of the impact of time passing, and that everyone affected wants to see timely progress.

"I explained at the time that this was the largest investigation ever undertaken by the IPCC - and the biggest criminal and misconduct investigation ever conducted into the police in England and Wales.

"I said that it would be conducted in phases with the first, focusing on laying the foundations, likely to take several months.

Liverpool fans remember those who died

"That foundation work is almost complete and we are now moving fully into the criminal and misconduct investigation phase. We have made great progress in the recovery of documentation, securing of resources including new premises, development of terms of reference and investigation plans.

"We have been developing our lines of enquiry alongside the review of the documentation and some police officers have now been interviewed.

"But this a huge and complex investigation which must be closely co-ordinated with the investigation into the deaths being led by Jon Stoddart, as well as the needs of the inquests.

"The coroner, Lord Justice Goldring, will hold the first pre-inquest hearing today and we have made it clear that we will be fully supportive of any decisions he makes on the procedure to be adopted at these inquests, including their timing.

"We have said that our investigation will take two years but we have not said that the inquests should be delayed as a result, and we will as necessary prioritise our investigative work to support the inquests. We will be reviewing our investigation plan after the hearing.

"I understand that our timescale may cause frustration.

"However in our correspondence and discussions to date with the families and survivors we have sought to explain the complexity of this investigation and that we and all the other organisations involved want to ensure the mistakes that have been made by inquiries into the disaster in the past are not repeated."

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