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Debate On Kevin Williams To Go Ahead


Anubis
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BBC News - Commons debate on Kevin Williams inquest will go ahead

 

 

Commons debate on Kevin Williams inquest will go ahead

 

 

The case of 15-year-old Hillsborough victim Kevin Williams will be debated in Parliament later this month, Liverpool MP Bill Esterson has said.

 

More than 100,000 people signed an online petition calling for a fresh inquest into his death after the boy's mother uncovered new evidence.

 

The backbench business committee had said a Commons debate would not be held, but a date has now been set.

 

Mr Esterson said he hoped it would be the first step in getting justice.

 

The debate is due to take place on 22 February.

 

Kevin, from Formby, Merseyside, is one of the 96 people who died after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

 

Ninety-five fans died in the crush at the FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield Wednesday's ground and a 96th supporter, Tony Bland, fell into a coma and died in hospital in 1993.

 

'Long battle'

The original inquest in 1991 returned a verdict of accidental death, ruling that all the victims were dead by 15:15.

 

Kevin's mother, Anne Williams, set up the e-petition calling on the government to open a new inquest under section 13 of the Coroner's Act, wanting the accidental death verdict to be overturned.

 

She claims Kevin was still alive at 16:00 on the day of the disaster and did not die from traumatic asphyxia and that she has evidence to prove it.

 

Mr Esterson said: "This has been a long time coming, but we have at last managed to get this issue debated in Parliament.

 

"More than 100,000 people put their names to the campaign calling for the debate on the government's own website. It is right a proper that that debate is given time in the House of Commons.

 

"Anne and the rest of the Williams family have been through a 23 year long battle for justice for Kevin.

 

"Anne has met people who tried to help Kevin well after the 3.15 cut off given by the coroner. Anne needs a new inquest so that she can get justice for Kevin. She and the other families need to hear the truth about whether decisions taken on the day contributed to the death of their loved ones.

 

"I will be fighting to ensure that this debate is the beginning of the end in the long campaign for the truth and that justice is finally done for the families of all 96 people who died at Hillsborough."

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Guest The Chimp

Superb news. I was going to go on a rant about how long it's taken but the main thing here is that Anne finally gets that which she has sought for so long.

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Guest San Don

Brilliant news. I was sure I heard somewhere that although we got the 100,000 signatures, a debate had been turned down. Must have been having a mare. So glad its now going to go ahead.

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  • 2 weeks later...

As someone who was there (Upper Tier) I am pleased about this.

 

I am concerned though that like Jarndyce v Jarndyce in Bleak House (for any literature fans out there) there is a danger that all this becomes (has become) an end in itself with no-one quite being sure what the original matter was all about, or outcome sought.

 

Having followed the evidence from first hand experience, to this day,and with the benefit of one of my best friends having been a cub Echo reporter there, sharing broader experiences and anecdotal impressions, I think that it would do all of us good to establish what closure looks like.

 

My view is that the Commander that day, Duckenfield, made a judgement of Solomon , one which had ben made several times elsewhere without casualty , and lost.By the standards of the day, criminal negligence would always have been a tough one to call, standards less than one should have expected after the event, much easier to prove. Yes there was much arse covering.That was wrong. But the behaviour and negligence of the Clubs, FA, licensing authorities and fans in the years that led up to Hillsborough played just as important a part.

 

I know personally, and know of, many who were directly touched by Hillsborough through loss. It is seldom reported that some just want to forget.

 

The timing of the Coroners cut off point was always arbitrary, it certainly was unhelpful. It is important now that this moves from simply being a cause celebre, to a point of agreed closure.

 

That stadiums have been built at which not a single person has died in this country after Hillsborough is the most fitting memorial that anyone could have hoped for. That the Leppings Lane stand still remains, largely intact, a bizarre footnote.

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