THE FAMILIES of 96 Liverpool football fans who died at Hillsborough have expressed relief that hundreds of police documents could finally be made public after a 20-year campaign for justice.
The home office said yesterday the documents could be released 10 years earlier than would normally be permitted after a request by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith.
It is understood that Ms Smith has spoken to Meredydd Hughes, the chief constable of South Yorkshire, whose area includes the Hillsborough stadium in the city of Sheffield, to discuss waiving the 30-year rule.
Ms Smith said: “The government is committed to helping those who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough tragedy. That is why I will be working with the ministry of justice, the department for culture, media and sport and the attorney general’s office to put out any information that exists that could shed light on the disaster . . . as soon as possible.”
It was revealed last week that two ministers, Andy Burnham and junior justice minister Maria Eagle, would ask for full disclosure of the documentation of all public bodies relating to Hillsborough.
Ms Eagle has consistently accused South Yorkshire police of having engaged in “a conspiracy to cover up” its own culpability for the disaster by presenting a case, to Lord Justice Taylor’s official inquiry and the subsequent inquest, that supporters’ misbehaviour was to blame.
Trevor Hicks of the Hillsborough Families Support Group said he was pleased by the news and that it was “better late than never”.
Mr Hicks added: “This will enable us to see the full picture of events in a way that we have been denied for 20 years. It is vital that these files are released in full and not sanitised in any way.”
On the 20th anniversary of Britain’s worst sporting disaster, Mr Burnham, the culture minister, was heckled during a memorial service last Wednesday at Liverpool’s Anfield ground by fans demanding justice. He has now called for full disclosure of all documents relating to the tragedy.
– (Guardian service)