Police agree to Hillsborough parents' legal demands

A police force has agreed to calls from the parents of two teenagers killed in the Hillsborough disaster to correct the record from a court case which wrongly concluded they did not suffer before they died.

Jenni and Trevor Hicks tried to sue South Yorkshire Police (SYP) in 1991 after the deaths of their daughters Sarah, 19, and Victoria, 15, in the 1989 tragedy, but were unsuccessful due to flawed medical evidence.

After significant public pressure, Chief Constable Lauren Poultney met the Hicks' on Thursday and confirmed SYP would provide a Statement in Open Court (SOAC) correcting the record.

Poultney told the BBC she recognised SYP had caused their family "so much pain over the years".

She added: "I understand how important it is to correct the record of the circumstances of the deaths of Vicki and Sarah and I have instructed the force's legal team to support the Hicks' legal team in their application for a statement in open court."

After the meeting, Jenni Hicks said: "We welcome what we have been told today, and we are pleased that South Yorkshire Police appears to recognise that this needs to be put right.

"But after everything families have been through over the past 36 years, we will wait to see it happen in open court before celebrating."

The records in question come from a ruling in favour of SYP after a false premise was accepted by the courts and later the House of Lords - then the highest court in the country - known as the "30 second rule".

Judges and law lords at the time accepted that all victims caught in the terrace crush had lost consciousness within 30 seconds and therefore did not suffer.

However that conclusion was categorically debunked, first by the Hillsborough Independent Panel report in 2012, and then by a second set of inquests which finished in 2016.

The truth was that many victims, including Victoria and Sarah, had suffered for more than an hour and witnesses described Sarah being seen in "extreme distress" about the fate of her younger sister.

Jenni and Trevor Hicks launched their campaign earlier this month, calling on the courts, judiciary and parliament to consider how inaccurate official court records could be amended.

Their position was backed by political figures including former Prime Minister Baroness Theresa May and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

SYP came in for heavy criticism after the Hicks said the force's lawyers had refused to agree to a fresh court hearing in which a SOAC could be read into the official record.

Trevor Hicks previously described SYP's position as "absurd" and one which "doesn't stand up to any reasonable examination".

After meeting Poultney, however, he said: "Today felt like a hugely important step forward.

"We have waited a very long time to hear these words from the leadership of South Yorkshire Police. What matters now is that the promise made today is followed through."

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, lead counsel for Jenni and Trevor Hicks, said: "We will meet with SYP's legal team at the earliest opportunity and ensure that the record is corrected as soon as is humanly possible.

"This is not just about Sarah and Vicki, it will help bring comfort we hope to all those families who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough Disaster.

"But we continue our fight for a Hicks' Rule which will help anyone in similar circumstances in future and we welcome the Chief Constable's support on that."

Nia Williams, partner at Saunders Law, is acting for the Hicks.

She added: "Jenni Hicks and Trevor Hicks were today able to look the chief constable in the eye and explain why this legal correction is so important."

She said Poultney had told Jenni and Trevor the force would back any legislative change to bring in a so-called Hicks' Rule to allow inaccurate court records to be changed more easily in future.

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