00:00Trevor and Jenny Hicks, whose daughters were among the victims of the Hillsborough disaster,
00:05are campaigning to correct official court records that inaccurately state their deaths were swift.
00:10Had we had the Hillsborough law at the time that we're campaigning for now as well,
00:18and a team of public advocates who could have got us the evidence that we needed right at the very start,
00:26we wouldn't have had to have waited 24 years for the truth and 26 years to get the correct inquest verdict.
00:35That's, that's cruel.
00:38Medical evidence at the time known as the 32nd rule inaccurately suggested all victims were unconscious within half a minute,
00:45including Victoria, 15, and Sarah, 19.
00:48Later investigations established victims were conscious for longer periods.
00:52So in any case at all, where there were early factual assumptions, which were incorrect,
00:57and where the court record relies on those wrong factual assumptions,
01:01in any case like that, a Hicks rule would make a difference.
01:04Now, that could be relevant in any kind of mass disaster,
01:07where there was an original mistaken assumption about what happened,
01:10but also in any individual case where someone has died and the underlying factual basis is proved to be wrong.
01:16So really, this could apply in a whole range of circumstances, whether it's a mass disaster,
01:20whether it's a death in a mental health hospital, whether it's a death in a prison.
01:24Counsel for the Hicks family, Keelan Gallagher, KC, says South Yorkshire police could rectify official records
01:30by reading a statement in open court, but the force has so far not agreed to a new hearing.
01:37So the very simple route that's available relies on South Yorkshire police's consent.
01:41And if they don't consent, then it's much, much more difficult for Jenny and Trevor.
01:45Then there's all sorts of obstacles in their way.
01:47And that's why we would then need to get a change to the legal and policy framework
01:52to make clear that even if you don't have the consent of a defendant,
01:56that a family in these circumstances can still make an application to the court.
02:01And to do that, we need a change to primary legislation or a change to the civil procedure rules.
02:06So there's got to be a legal and regulatory change if South Yorkshire police don't take the very simple step,
02:11which they could do today if they chose to.
02:12Chief Constable Lauren Pulteney acknowledged past errors and apologised but did not offer a court correction.
02:19We've heard these comments lots of times and we've had tea and sympathy loads of times,
02:24but, you know, action speaks louder than words.
02:27We're told there's a simple solution, so let her take action and follow that simple solution.
02:32The Hicks family campaign aims to highlight the wider challenge of correcting official documentation
02:37when new evidence emerges and has drawn attention from political figures,
02:41including former Prime Minister Theresa May and Greater Manchester Mayor Undie Burnham.
02:46Now, in fact, what Jenny and Trevor would like to get is a change in their individual case,
02:50but also a change for everyone else, for all the other bereaved families at Hillsborough
02:54and also for other bereaved families who may be faced with a false court record that they want to correct.
Comments