Fan welcomes MPs’ decision on Hillsborough
Tuesday 18th October 2011, 2:29PM BST.
Police helping fans over the fencing during the Hillsborough football disaster. An online petition calling for ministers to release Cabinet papers about the Hillsborough football disaster has hit 140,000 signatures - enough to trigger a debate in Parliament. (PA Photos/PA Wire)
RELEASING government documents relating to the Hillsborough disaster will finally deliver justice to the families of the 96 Liverpool fans who died, a local supporter has said.
Following a House of Commons debate last night, which was sparked by 140,000 people signing an e-petition, MPs voted to make public more than 40,000 documents relating to events surrounding the fateful 1989 FA cup semi-final.
Season ticket holder and supporter of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign John Marquis said the disaster, in which fans were crushed in caged pens at the Sheffield Wednesday ground, was still remembered by families in Merseyside.
And 22 years on, there were still many unanswered questions.
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JUSTICE FOR THE 96. YNWA
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A good end result to the Parliamentary debate but why did it take four hours when it was abundantly clear that it would sail through?
I kept flicking back to it to avoid most of the repetition but not one person spoke out against the motion,rightly so
Just like the Guernsey States if you have prepared a speech, by hook or by crook you are going to stand up and read it out
No wonder business creeps along at a snails pace
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I am not a great footie fan, or a league supporter.
Unfortunatley, or otherwise, it will not really matter a jot to those who were and continue to be affected; it will not bring back their husbands, sons, daughters, etc, who perished in this terrible accident scenario waiting to happen.
Reports are of non value – too many supporters were in a confined space. Lessons have been learned, no good whatsoever in now raking over and thereby escalating and, provoking grief. End of story.
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I was going to write a long post to you Stiletto, about just how wrong you are. Instead of that i’m simply going to post something from one of the people who are still fighting for Justice. Please read it, then go to http://www.hfdinfo.com/ and educate yourself on the tragedy before discussing it.
Warning, this will break you heart.
MY son, James, was 18-years-old when he died at Hillsborough. The day after the disaster I went to Sheffield to bring his body home and being a mum I took his coat with me because he didn’t like the cold.
I remember saying to someone “put his coat on, I want to take him home,” and I was told he did not belong to me, he belongs to the coroner. In all my screams I said to them “He still belongs to me because no-one’s cut the unbilical cord. He’s mine and he always will be.” That’s why I carry on. As a mother what else could I do?
I brought five children into the world. James was my first born. People say to me I have another four children to carry on for but I did not give birth to four, I gave birth to five. I carry on for the love, for the compassion and for the hurt I still feel for James and I’ve got to do everything in my power to fight for him. I didn’t only lose a son that day. My children also lost a brother.
He did nothing wrong that day. He did everything right but like all other Liverpool supporters he got accused of being drunk and so much else. We’ve got to clear their names. As a mum with so much love for a child I can no longer see, he is still in my heart and always will be.
For 22 years the fans, the survivors and the 96, have been called for everything. The families have gone through hell. We are not fighting for revenge. All we have ever wanted is the truth and accountability.
As a group of bereaved people, the hardcore of the families have been together since day one. Joan Traynor was our treasurer for 20 years before she became ill. She lost two sons. I spoke to Joan on the phone two days before she died and her last words to be were “I hope God spares me just long enough to see the truth for my boys. That’s all I want.” Unfortunately, God didn’t spare her. That is another reason why we must carry on. We also lost Eddie Spearitt recently while Phil Hammond has had his health concerns. The fight is now not just about the 96. It is also about the people we have lost along the way.
We are all old now. We started off having raffles to keep the group going and to keep the momentum going. It worked and it’s tremendous that we’ve all stuck together for this long. We all have different opinions and rightly so but we have stayed united. If it wasn’t for everyone else we would not have got this far. The support we’ve had, not just from Liverpool, has given us the strength to carry on when we have been at our lowest ebb. Even this week an online petition has been signed by more than 50,000 people.
We all want to know why our loved ones died at a football match. James came home five days later in a coffin. I need to know the truth. At the time I probably would’ve hung, drawn and quartered those responsible but that was just anger. I’ve gone beyond that now. I just want the truth. I’ve got to have some peace in my heart and for the rest of my family.
I want someone to show that what The Sun did a couple of days later was a disgrace. I want somebody to print, not for people just in this country to see but for people all around the world, that they did nothing wrong that day and I want the apologies that we’ve never received. They said they had The Truth but they never, they just had lies. That’s why we must have the real truth.
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I agree and disagree!
Yes you are right in that it will provoke grief and in some cases anger. But when the true facts come out families will finally have the truth and that intern will give them closure on what they have thought and said all along. Every parent when losing a loved one craves that especially when they feel there has been an injustice.
I have read over the years many articles and watched documentaries on this incident. All of them have indicated there were mistakes made by the police. However, none of them have ever said that witnesses were pressured to change there statements to cover up mistakes. Until yesterday when a number of MP’s mentioned it in the House of Commons.
The Police must remember they are not above the Law they are to uphold it. If there has been an injustice then they must face the consequences regardless of how many years it was the same as you and I.
Justice for the 96 from a Newcastle Fan!!
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Stiletto
Surely you’re not actually that dumb?
The people who lost loved ones are entitled to know the TRUTH about what happened, not the lies that they have had to put up with from the police and the press.
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I tried Google to read about the results of the enquiry into the Heysel disaster when 39 Juventus fans died before the game with Liverpool in 1985,but to my surprise it seems that no proper enquiry was ever held
It appears that the main cause was attributed to poor allocation of tickets allowing the rival fans to mix,but no person or organisation was ever held responsible
The only sanction was that Liverpool were banned from entering European competitions for 7 years while all other British teams were banned for 5 years,probably as a result of the terrible reputation of British fans at the time
Perhaps the the FA and the Government of the day at the time of the Hillsborough disaster only four years later took their cue from what happened (or didn’t happen)following Heysel
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@Phil
I truly sympathise with you having lost your son.
No I am not dumb, I speak from experience in that I have a dear, life long friend whose husband was also killed. I am not going to drama this up, suffice to say that she has been suffering from bouts of deep depression ever since and has been dreading the hearing for this very reason.
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@Stiletto. What i put, as I stated, is from one of the victims mothers. I sympathise with your friend, but the majority of the families want the real truth, no matter the cost.
@Ray Nice one. Firstly, this has nothing whatsoever to do with Heysel, and secondly you’re obviously inept at using google. A simple search will show you that:
After an 18-month investigation, the dossier of top Belgian judge Marina Coppieters was finally published. In sharp contrast to the one-sided version of events on the UK side of the Channel, it concluded that perhaps blame should not rest solely with the English fans, but instead should be shared by the police and football authorities. Several top officials were incriminated by some of the dossier’s findings, including police captain Johan Mahieu, who had been in charge of security on 29 May 1985 and was now charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Belgium was banned from hosting a major European final for 10 years. In a private action brought by Otello Lorentini, a bereaved parent, UEFA were judged to be coresponsible for future UEFA events and their statement on the match Tickets ‘The organizer disclaims all responsibility in case of accidents of any kind’ was rejected, the judge ruling that ‘Uefa could not relinquish all responsibility and simply go to the cashier’ [after compensation payments were agreed]
it’s not hard to use a computer. Take your hatred of Liverpool Fc (which you clearly have) and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. This has nothing to do with club football, and everything to do with families who still do not know why their husbands, wives, sons and daughters never returned from a football match.
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Thanks for the lesson on computer searches Phil
If only I had bothered to search under Marina Coppieters (who?)instead of Heysel Stadium I wouldn’t have ended up with page after page,including film coverage of what happened on that dreadful day
Still never mind.This time next year I’ll be able to search under ‘Liverpool .. compo capital of the UK’ for the final chapter of this sad story
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