Response to Hillsborough interview

Last updated : 23 December 2004 By Iron-Bru
We received dozens of emails from Liverpool fans, many of whom were at Hillsborough on that fateful day 15 years ago.

The responses were thought provoking and emotional, we have reproduced one account from a survivor of the disaster below:


From reading the piece it is obvious how much Hillsborough impacted upon Mr Laws and his family. And let's not forget that not every club (even given your Forest connect through Mr Laws) will have done what you did to highlight the 15th anniversary so respect for that.

Hillsborough remains a huge open wound for many, many people not least those families who ahd their loved ones torn away from them that day.

It will remain so until those responsible - and the finding of Lord Justice Taylor, a view later upheld by Lord Justice Stuart Smith, was that the fault lay with South Yorkshire Police - are brought to justice.

Even then, should justice prevail, nothing will bring the 96 back. No matter how much you try I think it impossible to comprehend how those families could begin to move on, given what will still be missing from their lives.

To me the level of media coverage given to the 15th anniversary was derisory, given the scale of the tragedy and the establishment cover-up which followed and still continues today.

I wish I had no reason to be at Anfield on Thursday, but I was there - same as I was at Hillsborough 15 years ago. I had a ticket that day and considered myself very lucky...

I turned up on time for 2:30pm, got caught up in the already developing scene outside the turnstiles and was deposited into the stadium at 2:50pm. I went straight through that tunnel to the fatal pen, where only good luck and previous knowledge made me fight my way into the next pen and safety. It turned out I was luckier than I could ever have imagined.

I also consider myself lucky to have witnessed the most incredible example of lastig quiet dignity and decency, courtesy of the bereaved families of Hillsborough. They are an example to everyone and, though the tears of sadness and often barely suppressed rage at such scandal and injustice, it really restores some measure of human pride to behold them every April 15.

But I still wish I had never seen them at all.

The Kop end at Anfield was, on a wet Thursday afternoon, more or less full this week of people who know the truth. It is more or less accepted now that South Yorkshire Police were responsible for the tragedy in 1989. However every now and then something will appear which will hint at the behaviour of the fans as being the cause of the disaster.

This theory is not only incorrect, it is now completely discredited. i prefer to believe that these pieces are simply ill-informed and without malicious content, and that people are still out there who need educating in this matter.

If you get the chance I would urge you to read Hillsborough - The Truth by Phil Scraton. And when you've finished it please pass it on to Mr Laws.

Regards

Ray Roberts.