London - Hillsborough families declared that justice had finally been done for the 96 victims as the inquest vindicated their tireless battle for the truth.
The deaths had been ruled accidental at the end of the original 1991 inquest, but those verdicts were quashed following the 2012 Hillsborough Independent Panel report, which concluded that a major cover-up had taken place in effort by police and others to avoid the blame for what happened.
The new inquest has concluded that blunders by the police and ambulance service on the day “caused or contributed” to the disaster and that the victims were unlawfully killed.
“Everything was against us. The only people that weren''t against us was our own city,” leading Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall, who lost her 18-year-old son James, said. “That's why I am so grateful to my city and so proud of my city. They always believed in me.”
Ms Aspinall, from the Hillsborough Families Support Group, later told journalists it was a “disgrace” that families had to wait 27 years to get where they are and that the result of the inquest was “momentous”.
“We have had two years of hell going up and down to the court each day,” she said, “but the only thing I can say at the end of it today, is has been well worth it.
We have made history really, today - not just for the families of the 96, but also the fans and the survivors who are very important, but for our city as well. Because we were fighting alone in the very early days 27 years ago, we did not only have the establishment against us, we had the media against us as well.”
Trevor Hicks, whose two teenage daughters, Sarah aged 19, and Victoria, 15, perished in the crush, said: “Getting information that we were entitled to since day one has been a bit like pulling back teeth. Even throughout these proceedings, some people have been peddling the same old lies: hooliganism, ticketless fans, and of course alcohol. What has been said clearly and firmly today is none of those are factors that matter.
“I am pleasantly surprised that we got a result on question six. I was hoping for it, but the 27 years that Margaret has talked about this has taught me a real scepticism.” Andy Burnham, the shadow Home Secretary, who has supported the campaign, said outside court: “This has been the greatest miscarriage of justice of our times, but finally it is over. This is justice for them. Their loved ones, for the first time in 27 years, can rest in peace.
“There needs to be accountability and prosecutions. Not just for the failings on the day, but for the cover up that followed. There now needs to be accountability for all the things that have been done to these families down the years. That harmed people immeasurable. They damage that was done, people will never recover from it.
“It was the telling of lies about the supporters of Liverpool football club, the city of Liverpool at the hour of its greatest grief, for me that is a terrible crime.”
The Independent