Hillsborough Disaster 1989

Justice For the 96

On April 15 1989, 24,000 Liverpool fans travelled to a football match. 96 never returned.

Hillsborough is the home of Sheffield Wednesday football Club. The stadium was chosen to hold

the 1989 FA Cup semi-final. From 12 noon the liverpool fans would enter through the ‘Leppings

Lane’ end, through a limited number of small turnstiles. Supporter would make their way down to

the terraced stand which used steel fencing to seperate the supporters into sections.

The fencing was there for precautionary reasons, to prevent crowd control and

pitch invasions for the safety of the players.

The fencing was there for precautionary reasons, to prevent crowd control and

pitch invasions for the safety of the players.

By about 1450pm, the 2 sections directly behind the goal, were full, but outside the ground thousands of fans were still waiting to get in. The capacity for this section was 2,000 but that number was reduced to 1,600 due to safety standards. At 1452pm, police ordered a large exit gate - Gate C - to be opened to alleviate the crush outside the ground. Around 2,000 fans then made their way into the ground and headed straight for a tunnel leading directly to the central pens.

It was estimated that more than 3,000 supporters were admitted to the central pens. Almost

double the “safe” capacity.

The game kicked off on time at 1500pm. By 1505, one of the central pens gave

way resulting in supporters falling on top of each other. At this point supporters

where fighting for survival by climbing the fences or onto the upper tier.

At 1506pm, a policeman ran on to the pitch and ordered the referee to stop the game.

At 1506pm, a policeman ran on to the pitch and ordered the referee to stop the game.

In an attempt to help each other, supporters who had escaped uninjuried would

tare up the surrounding advertising boards and use them as stretchers. Ambulances

where within the the area but had trouble getting onto the pitch due to reported

“crowd trouble”. Firefighters with ‘cutting gear’ also had difficulty getting into the

ground.

Of the 96 people who died, only 14 were ever admitted to hospital.

Fans shouted to the police offices to open the gates, but they only got ignored. At 3.15pm, Graham Kelly, chief executive of the Football Association, had gone to the police control box, where he was told by a senior police officer that Liverpool fans had rushed the gate into the ground, creating the fatal crush in pens three and four, despite the fact that he had ordered the gate opened.

“LIES HURT SO MUCH” Margaret As-pinall from Huyton, Merseyside lost her 18-year-old son James on April 15, 1989.

95 fans died in the next couple of days, young, old, male, female. One more supporter, Tony Bland, died after spending four years on a ventilator machine.

giving evidence at the manslaughter trial of

former senior South Yorkshire police officers

David Duckenfield and Bernard Murray

Mr Moneypenny:

“the sheer numbers of people, led

me to being literally carried off my feet for 30 to

40ft”.

“I was fighting for my life,

but I was dimly aware a football match had started.”

Monday 24 July 2000

The jury considering two manslaughter charges against former chief superintendent David Duckenfield, the police officer in charge at Hillsborough on the day of the 1989 FA Cup semi-final disaster which saw 96 fans crushed to death, was today discharged at Leeds Crown Court after failing to reach a verdict.

NOT GUILTY

“My head was tilted back, gasping for air. Then I lost

consciousness. The sky became white cloud, the white cloud

became a tunnel shape, and I went down this tunnel. It was like

looking down a pipe.”

“two people to my left had managed to climb above the crush, and were now crawling on all fours over the shoulders and heads of people around me, to the fence at the front”

I caught the eye of a policeman just the other side

of the fence. It was an unmistakable, meaningful moment:

because for four or five seconds, across the heads of scores

of people, we looked each other in the eye.

I lost him when I mouthed the words, “H e l p u s.” He

smiled to himself and shook his head at me.

“We’ve been left to die.”

I screwed up every ounce of strength left in my body - to lever myself into the air, climb on to some-one’s shoulders, escape. But as I heaved and strained, my body wouldn’t move an i n c h. Those p r e s s e d tight around me were heavy, some were unconscious; others were gibbering, trying to black out what was happening.

black

Ian committed suicide two years ago. He had never been the same since suffering post-traumatic stress disorder following his experience at Hillsborough

“I called his mobile and it rang in the living room. We went out into the kitchen and the garage door had the key in, so my daughter ran out to the garage. And Ian had hanged himself in there. She started screaming.”

The quest for justice goes on, 22 years after Liverpool’s darkest day

The tragedy is the scar which will forever deface Liverpool, the

terror that will never leave those that survived it or the families of

those that did not.

Aspinall said to the congregation. “In 1989, 96 loved ones died,

they didn’t come home from a football match. Ever since, a blanket

has been put over Hillsborough and now, 22 years on, it is time that

blanket was removed.”

John Alfred Anderson (62) Colin Mark Ashcroft (19) James Gary Aspinall (18) Kester Roger Mar-cus Ball (16) Gerard Bernard Patrick Baron (67) Simon Bell (17) Barry Sidney Bennett (26) David John Benson (22) David William Birtle (22) Tony Bland (22) Paul David Brady (21) Andrew Mark Brookes (26) Carl Brown (18) David Steven Brown (25) Henry Thomas Burke (47) Peter Andrew Burkett (24) Paul William Carlile (19) Raymond Thomas Chapman (50) Gary Christopher Church (19) Joseph Clark (29) Paul Clark (18) Gary Collins (22) Stephen Paul Copoc (20)Tracey Eliza-beth Cox (23) James Philip Delaney (19) Christopher Barry Devonside (18)Christopher Edwards (29)Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34) Thomas Steven Fox (21) Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10) Barry Glover (27)Ian Thomas Glover (20) Derrick George Godwin (24) Roy Harry Hamilton (34) Philip Hammond (14) Eric Hankin (33) Gary Harrison (27) Stephen Francis Harrison (31)Peter Andrew Harrison (15) David Hawley (39) James Robert Hennessy (29) Paul Anthony Hewitson (26)Carl Darren Hewitt (17) Nicholas Michael Hewitt (16) Sarah Louise Hicks (19) Victoria Jane Hicks (15) Gordon Rodney Horn (20) Arthur Horrocks (41) Thomas Howard (39) Thomas Anthony Howard (14) Eric George Hughes (42) Alan Johnston (29) Christine Anne Jones (27) Gary Philip Jones (18) Richard Jones (25) Nicholas Peter Joynes (27) Anthony Peter Kelly (29) Michael David Kelly (38) Carl David Lewis (18) David William Mather (19) Brian Chris-topher Mathews (38) Francis Joseph McAllister (27) John McBrien (18) Marion Hazel McCabe (21) Joseph Daniel McCarthy (21) Peter McDonnell (21) Alan McGlone (28) Keith McGrath (17)Paul Brian Murray (14) Lee Nicol (14) Stephen Francis O’Neill (17) Jonathon Owens (18) Wil-liam Roy Pemberton (23) Carl William Rimmer (21) David George Rimmer (38) Graham John Roberts (24) Steven Joseph Robinson (17) Henry Charles Rogers (17) Colin Andrew Hugh Wil-liam Sefton (23) Inger Shah (38) Paula Ann Smith (26) Adam Edward Spearritt (14) Philip John Steele (15) David Leonard Thomas (23) Patrik John Thompson (35)Peter Reuben Thompson (30) Stuart Paul William Thompson (17) Peter Francis Tootle (21)Christopher James Traynor (26) Martin Kevin Traynor (16) Kevin Tyrrell (15) Colin Wafer (19) Ian David Whelan (19) Martin Kenneth Wild (29) Kevin Daniel Williams (15) Graham John Wright (17)

Rest in Peace