Their counsel and solicitor said the 'key reason' they cannot get the court record corrected is because South Yorkshire Police will not agree to it
The report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel Hillsborough Families Press Conference at Liverpool Anglican cathedral in 2012. Picture from left Jenni Hicks., Margaret Aspinall and Trevor hicks
The report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel Hillsborough Families Press Conference at Liverpool Anglican cathedral in 2012. Picture from left Jenni Hicks., Margaret Aspinall and Trevor hicks
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Jenni and Trevor Hicks appeared on BBC Breakfast today discussing their campaign to correct the legal record regarding their daughters' deaths in the Hillsborough Disaster. Their daughters Sarah, 19, and Victoria, 15, were among the 97 Liverpool fans killed in the 1989 disaster.
The Hicks are campaigning to have the court record corrected about the '30 second rule'. The “30-second rule” was relied upon in civil litigation following Hillsborough to argue that victims lost consciousness almost immediately and therefore didn’t suffer.
The argument was relied upon in the early 1990s when Jenni Hicks and Hicks brought a test case against South Yorkshire Police for the pain and suffering their daughters endured before their deaths. This was the lead case, intended to help all the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster.
That case was dismissed at every level, including the House of Lords which at the time was the UK’s highest appellate court, on the basis that the girls were assumed to have lost consciousness almost immediately.
The '30 second rule' stands as a public record – but the Hillsborough Independent Panel (2012) and the fresh Hillsborough inquests (2014 – 2016) have since made clear that this assumption was fundamentally flawed.
Sarah and Vicki Hicks together at school
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When asked for her force's position by the BBC for their programme today, South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Lauren Poultney said: "Under my leadership, South Yorkshire Police will take the steps available to us to support the families in achieving a sense of justice” and she said "I recognise that the lack of an available route to challenge findings has compounded distress.”
The Hicks' lawyer have today reacted to the SYP statement.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC and Nia Williams, counsel and solicitor for Jenni Hicks and Trevor Hicks, said in a joint statement: "The courts in the 1990s ruled that Sarah and Victoria Hicks were unconscious within 30 seconds and that they died “swift and sudden deaths” as a result, culminating in the House of Lords ruling in Hicks v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1992] All ER 65.
"We now know that this is simply not true, and our clients want to have the historical record corrected to reflect what truly happened to their beloved daughters.
"Contrary to the impression given by South Yorkshire Police’s statement to the BBC this morning, there is a simple and straightforward route available to correct the factual findings made in by the courts decades ago: a statement in open court, by consent between the parties.
"The key reason that this route is not currently available to Jenni and Trevor is, regrettably, because South Yorkshire Police will not agree to it.
"Without their consent, the route is blocked - compounding Jenni and Trevor’s distress, and prolonging their fight for justice for their daughters and for everyone who died as a result of the Hillsborough Disaster."
Mr and Mrs Hicks will attend a Parliamentary event on Monday during which they will campaign for a 'Hicks Rule' to be introduced so that people in similar circumstances are able to easily correct the official legal record, where necessary, in future.