After years of fighting for justice, the families of the 97 people unlawfully killed at Hillsborough suffered another setback this week. The release of a 2017 report commissioned by the government, intended to learn lessons from the tragedy and improve the justice system, was delayed for six years. When it was finally released, the report was accompanied by an apology from the government, but it rejected the Hillsborough Law, which would have introduced a legally enforceable duty of candour and equal public funding for legal representation of bereaved families at inquiries and inquests.
At a Home Office building in Liverpool, family members of the victims responded with disappointment and resolve. Margaret Aspinall, whose son James was one of the victims, said: “97 innocent people were unlawfully killed and not one person has been held accountable. This is totally disappointing. We need the Hillsborough law.” Charlotte Hennessy, who lost her father, Jimmy, in the tragedy, said: “We never want anybody to go through what we went through, and this cannot be the end.”
The Hillsborough Law was developed after the 2016 verdict of the new inquest that determined the victims were unlawfully killed due to gross negligence manslaughter by the South Yorkshire police officer in command. The jury rejected the campaign of lies by South Yorkshire police that had sought to blame the victims for the disaster rather than take responsibility for their own failings.
The Hillsborough families had hoped that the Hillsborough law would prevent police cover-ups and mistreatment. However, the government rejected the law and stated that the duty of candour is now included in police officers’ codes of conduct. It also proposed only to consult on increasing legal aid funding for inquests. The government did, however, sign the “charter for families bereaved through public tragedy” proposed by James Jones, a former bishop of Liverpool, completely and verbatim. The charter commits ministries to be open and transparent and fully and honestly assist investigations following public tragedies, and “not knowingly mislead the public or the media”
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