South Yorkshire Police has apologised to Jenni and Trevor Hicks but have so far refused to apply to make a statement to change the record
South Yorkshire Police has apologised to Jenni and Trevor Hicks but have so far refused to apply to make a statement to change the record
The parents of two teenage sisters unlawfully killed at Hillsborough have accused South Yorkshire Police of “adding insult to injury” for the force’s “hollow apology”. Jenni and Trevor Hicks, whose teenage daughters Sarah and Victoria were among the 97 Liverpool supporters killed at the disaster in 1989, are seeking formal recognition that their daughters did not lose consciousness within 30 seconds and die shortly thereafter, as South Yorkshire Police claimed for years, but that they actually suffered for significantly longer.
The “30-second rule” was relied upon in civil litigations following Hillsborough to argue that victims lost consciousness almost immediately and therefore didn’t suffer. But overwhelming evidence from subsequent investigations, including a second set of inquests following the Hillsborough Independent Panel, found many victims were conscious at least half an hour later.
The Hicks challenged the findings first in the early 1990s, arguing their girls had suffered before their deaths, but their case was dismissed at every level, including at the House of Lords, which at the time was the highest appellate court in the UK. They returned to the House of Lords on Monday to launch a new campaign to correct the legal record.
The record can be corrected if South Yorkshire Police, the heavily-criticised force who fed a false narrative to the media in a bid to cover up its own mistakes, agree to a fresh hearing and read a revised statement in open court. The force has offered “unreserved apologies” to the Hicks but have so far refused to apply with them to make the statement which would correct the record.
Trevor said: “South Yorkshire Police could fix this almost immediately. But they are refusing to do so. They are adding insult to injury. If they really wanted to support us, as they say they do, then they’d make that application with us for a statement in open court.”
South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Lauren Poultney said: “I acknowledge the huge distress that must have been caused to you by the court’s findings. If that case was to be re-run today, it would not be defended by South Yorkshire Police, and I apologise for the fact that the case was contested in 1991.
“I offer my sincere apologies for the pain and suffering endured by Sarah and Vicki. I offer my unreserved apologies to each of you, to all of those who lost loved ones, and particularly those who lost their lives, during, and as a result of the major disaster at Hillsborough stadium.”
But Jenni added: “The chief constable, who claims to want to help us, is forcing us to go down the legal route yet again. Haven’t we suffered and campaigned enough over the last three decades to get to the truth and to uncover a cover up which started on the night of the disaster? I call on South Yorkshire Police to finally do the right thing.
“The Hicks’ Rule will help all victims of Hillsborough by correcting the record. But it will also help many others in future who are victims of a cover up, or a miscarriage of justice like we have been.”
Jenni and former husband Trevor joined legal experts and parliamentarians on Monday to begin the campaign. Chief Constable Poultney was invited to the event but declined. The Hicks’ solicitor Nia Williams, partner at Saunders Law, said the apology was “hollow without correcting the legal record”.
Among those supporting the Hicks’ Rule campaign are Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, who questioned whether the country had faced up to the Hillsborough cover-up. He said: “Why are these parents still in this place having to argue about the truth about what happened to their daughters?
“You can’t help but think that we still have a problematic issue with truth in this country. How can any public body, particularly a police force, allow a false public record? Surely now we’ve got to the point when they should be immediately writing to Trevor and Jenni to say they will testify in open court to correct it. Otherwise, the words are hollow.”
Also supporting the Hicks is former Tory prime minister Theresa May, who met Trevor and Jenni shortly before the event. She said: “After everything that Trevor and Jenni Hicks have been through, it beggars belief that all these years later they are still having to fight to have the truth acknowledged as to what happened to their daughters that day.
“South Yorkshire Police must see that this is another disgraceful example of the evasion and obfuscation of the last four decades. Surely, at some point, this must stop and I would urge South Yorkshire Police to see sense and agree to a statement in court clarifying what the truth is regarding the death of Sarah and Victoria.”
The current court record says Sarah, 19, and Victoria, 15, had experienced “swift and sudden [deaths] as shown by the medical evidence”. That still stands as public record – but medical and expert evidence has since demonstrated this to be false.
Multiple witnesses reported that Victoria, the only female child victim of the crush, was crying and in distress for some time, while Sarah was described as intensively panicked about the fate of her sister. It is now known that Victoria and Sarah may have survived until 3.45pm and 3.39pm respectively – an hour after the fatal crush started.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, lead counsel for the Hicks, said: “South Yorkshire Police have now given an apology to Jenni and Trevor, and they say that they want to help the family achieve “a sense of justice. Then why not match those laudable words with concrete action? They should agree to jointly apply, with Trevor and Jenni, for a statement in open court which can finally correct the decades-old flawed public record.”
Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws KC, who hosted the parliamentary event, said: “This case exposes a serious gap in our justice system. When later evidence proves that earlier legal findings were wrong, there must be a way for victims to be able to correct the record. Without that, injustice is frozen in time – not just for Trevor and Jenni Hicks, but for others who may face similar battles in the future.”
Among those attending last night’s event was the president of the Football Association, Debbie Hewitt, and personal friends of Trevor and Jenni, including Christopher Eccleston, Jimmy McGovern and David Dein.
