Attorney General in application for new Hillsborough inquests
HILLSBOROUGH campaigners moved a major step closer to achieving their aim of new inquests yesterday when the Attorney General applied to have the controversial original verdicts quashed.
Dominic Grieve QC indicated in October that he would seek to have the verdicts of accidental death overturned in light of the findings of a report by the Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP).
The HIP report published evidence that the 96 victims of the disaster at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest had been failed by emergency services and smeared by police.
“I believe that the case for the High Court to quash the original inquests is a good one,” Mr Grieve said. “My application has now been lodged with the court. It is my intention to appear to argue the case at the hearing that will take place in the High Court.”
Yesterday’s application from the government’s senior law officer paves the way for a new inquest next year, although a date is yet to be set.
It also raises hopes that Anne Williams, whose son Kevin died in the tragedy at the Sheffield stadium, will live to hear the new verdicts.
More than 100,000 have signed a petition calling for the process to be expedited as Mrs Williams, 60, is fighting cancer.