Sunday, January 5, 2014

Hillsborough Inquests; U.K. Although the inquests into the deaths of 96 football fans at Hillsborough in 1989 are not going to commence until March, some families are already making their own preparations; BBC News.


STORY: "Hillsborough families prepare for inquests," by reporter Judith Moritz, published by BBC News on January 2, 2014.

GIST:  "New inquests into the deaths of 96 football fans at Hillsborough in 1989 are due to take place in March, but for some of the families involved the preparations have already started......... The families are pinning their hopes on the new inquests, and also on the two other new Hillsborough investigations which are now under way. One of them, Operation Resolve, has been tasked with investigating whether anyone is criminally liable for the disaster. 'Wide focus' It is being run by Assistant Commissioner Jon Stoddart, whose team is also supplying evidence to the inquests. Mr Stoddart says that even now new evidence is emerging. He gives the example of one retired police officer who made a two-page statement in 1989. Having been re-interviewed, her new statement runs to 22 pages. He said: "We've gone into this on a very broad footing making sure that we don't lose any investigative opportunities whatsoever. So rather than going in with a very narrow focus. We're going in with a very wide focus.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25471747

See Wikipedia entry: "The Hillsborough disaster was an incident that occurred on 15 April 1989 at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, during the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football clubs. The crush resulted in the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 766 others. The incident has since been blamed primarily on the police. The incident remains the worst stadium-related disaster in British history and one of the world's worst football disasters.[1]......... When the FA Chairman visited the Control Box to find out what had happened, Chief Superintendent Duckenfield told a 'disgraceful lie'[3] that the supporters had "rushed" the gate......... On the 20th anniversary of the disaster, government minister Andy Burnham called for the police, ambulance and all other public agencies to release documents which were not made available to Lord Justice Taylor in 1989.[5] This action led to the formation of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, which in September 2012 concluded that no Liverpool fans were responsible for the deaths, and that attempts had been made by the authorities to conceal what happened, including the alteration by police of 116 statements relating to the disaster.[6][7] The facts in the report prompted immediate apologies from Prime Minister David Cameron; the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police David Crompton; Football Association Chairman David Bernstein and Kelvin MacKenzie, then-editor of The Sun, for their organisations' respective roles.[8] In September 2012, the Hillsborough Independent Panel concluded that up to 41 of the 96 fatalities might have been avoided had they received prompt medical treatment.[9] The report revealed "multiple failures" by other emergency services and public bodies which contributed to the death toll. In response to the panel's report, Attorney General for England and Wales, Dominic Grieve MP, confirmed he would consider all the new evidence to evaluate whether the original inquest verdicts of accidental death could be overturned.[10] On 19 December 2012, a new inquest was granted in the High Court, to the relief of the families and friends of the Hillsborough deceased.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html

 
 I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com