Families seek inquests in Liverpool and call for criminal prosecutions
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Your support makes all the difference.Lawyers acting for the families of the 96 Liverpool fans killed in the Hillsborough tragedy will write to the Attorney General today demanding that fresh inquests be held in the city.
The Hillsborough Family Support Group also decided at a meeting at Anfield yesterday to seek criminal prosecutions of those involved in the shocking cover up by police, who attempted to shift blame for the 1989 tragedy to the victims.
It was the group's first meeting since an independent panel published its damning report which exposed the cover up last week.
Two high-profile lawyers for the campaign, Michael Mansfield QC and Lord Falconer, appeared via videolink to discuss the next steps available to the families.
In a statement read afterwards by the group's president, Trevor Hicks, and chairwoman, Margaret Aspinall, who lost her son James, 18, the group condemned "the despicable conspiracy by those in authority to tarnish the reputations of the dead".
"The scale of the wrongdoing and cover up is monumental and even greater than feared," the statement said. "There are three avenues that we will rigorously follow to ensure that justice for the families is finally achieved.
"First, the report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel clearly shows that the previous inquest proceeded on a false factual basis. Its conclusions can therefore no longer stand. We urge the Attorney General to apply for a new inquest as soon as possible. We feel strongly that the new inquest should be held in Liverpool.
"Second, we demand a full and immediate investigation into criminal prosecutions that may be brought against all those responsible.
"Finally, where appropriate, we will apply for civil proceedings to be re-opened where they may have, in the past, been dismissed or settled on a false factual basis. We will also consider launching new claims that may be now brought in light of the report's revelations.
"This is the first necessary step in what we hope will be the final stage of the families' quest to secure justice at last."
Mr Hicks, from Keighley, West Yorkshire, who lost daughters Vicky, 15, and Sarah, 19, in the disaster, added: "This goes beyond Hillsborough. What was exposed on Wednesday was a disgrace to the nation, not just the families...
"We will be petitioning the government, the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions on all these various matters and these letters will be going out tomorrow".
The families have always condemned the original inquest which concluded that all the victims were dead or brain dead by 3.15pm and recorded a verdict of accidental death.
The independent panel concluded that as many as 41 of the 96 who died at Hillsborough could have been saved if emergency services had reacted properly.
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