Jenni and Trevor Hicks have campaigned for years to have the record changed
Sarah and Victoria Hicks together at school
Sarah and Victoria Hicks together at school
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The parents of two teenagers who were killed in the Hillsborough disaster have today been promised their daughters' official legal record of death will be altered. Jenni and Trevor Hicks, whose teenage daughters Sarah and Victoria were among the 97 Liverpool supporters unlawfully killed in the disaster in 1989, have fought for the formal recognition that their daughters did not lose consciousness within 30 seconds and die shortly after.
It comes after South Yorkshire Police claimed they died almost immediately. The "30-second rule" was relied upon in civil litigations following Hillsborough to argue that victims lost consciousness almost immediately and therefore didn't suffer.
But overwhelming evidence from subsequent investigations, including a second set of inquests following the Hillsborough Independent Panel, found many victims were conscious at least half an hour later.
The record can be corrected if South Yorkshire Police, the heavily-criticised force which fed a false narrative to the media in a bid to cover up its own mistakes, agrees to a fresh hearing and reads a revised statement in open court.
Following relentless campaigning, the parents met Chief Constable Lauren Poultney today, February 26, for the first time where they were told she had instructed the force’s legal team to proceed with a Statement in Open Court (SOAC) acknowledging that earlier court findings about the deaths of their daughters should be corrected.
Jenni Hicks, Lauren Poultney and Trevor Hicks
Jenni Hicks, Lauren Poultney and Trevor Hicks
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This marks the first time that a serving Chief Constable for South Yorkshire Police has met with the parents to discuss the legal records arising from their civil case in the early 1990s and comes after criticism of the force for failing to do so despite repeated requests by lawyers representing the Hicks.
Their civil case was dismissed on the basis that the girls were assumed to have been unconscious within seconds and died shortly afterwards, findings that later inquiries and inquests demonstrated were fundamentally flawed.
Following the meeting, Jenni Hicks said: "This is the first time we have sat down with a Chief Constable and been told directly that steps will be taken to correct the record about our daughters.
"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."
Trevor Hicks added: "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."
Trevor Hicks
Trevor Hicks(Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
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The commitment follows years of legal efforts by the Hicks family to correct court rulings which still state that their daughters experienced “swift and sudden” deaths, despite medical evidence heard at later Hillsborough proceedings showing that many victims remained conscious for significantly longer.
A statement in open court is a recognised legal mechanism used to formally correct the public record – but South Yorkshire Police's refusal to do so has led to intense criticism in recent weeks, including from the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and the former Prime Minister Theresa May.
The Chief Constable told Jenni and Trevor that the two legal teams were now “working towards a shared goal.”
Nia Williams, Partner at Saunders Law acting for Jenni and Trevor, said: “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. We are pleased that the Chief Constable has confirmed that she has instructed SYP’s legal team to agree to the Statement in Open Court and we hope that will happen very soon.”
Today’s development also follows a House of Lords event which examined how victims can, in future, correct historic judicial records - a ‘Hicks’ Rule - when later evidence overturns the factual basis on which earlier rulings were made. Currently it requires the consent of the wrongdoer.
The Chief Constable is also said to have committed South Yorkshire Police to supporting legislative change regarding the Hicks’ Rule to ensure legal records can be corrected more easily by all victims in future.
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