New hope for victims' families in 1989 Hillsborough tragedy

Paul Carlile

Warrington (UK): Hundreds of relatives of the 96 Liverpool football supporters who died in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster filled a courtroom yesterday for the start of fresh inquests into their deaths.


Donna Miller, whose brother Paul Carlile died in the 1989 disaster, holds a picture of her late brother. Pic/AFP

Emotions ran high as families, who have fought for two decades to overturn the original verdicts of accidental death, and dozens of lawyers, gathered in a purpose-built court on a business park outside Warrington, east of Liverpool.

Some relatives wore scarves in the red and white of Liverpool, while others carried photographs of their loved ones who were crushed to death on an overcrowded terrace at an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

A potential jury of 11, plus a pool of reserves, was selected and warned that the hearings could take up to 12 months, as they work through a wealth of new evidence.