Still Fighting for Justice

By Sheila Coleman

The latest attempt by the S*N newspaper to boost its flagging sales in Liverpool manifested itself in an alleged 'apology’ to the people of Liverpool for comments made back in 1989 after the Hillsborough Disaster.
Their misjudgement of Liverpool people continues. Did they really think that we would fall for such a stunt? To those still fighting for justice for Hillsborough victims the saga was nothing more than a minor distraction from the greater struggle.

The sub-editor of that paper contacted me on the evening of the 6th July making what he called 'a courtesy call' to inform the Hillsborough Justice Campaign of the next day's story. He read out to me the article and asked me what I thought. I replied that I would never give a comment to his paper. However, informally I told him that I felt he and his paper were seriously miscalculating both the intelligence and integrity of Liverpool people. I also stated that the move would backfire on them and would indirectly help to educate a younger generation on the subject of the Hillsborough Disaster. The next day I put out a press release on behalf of the HJC. It stated: The Hillsborough Justice Campaign does not recognise the comments made in today's' edition of the S*N (7th July 2004) as a genuine or sincere apology for the lies it told in respect of the Hillsborough Disaster. Any apology should be front page - on a par with the original damning headline fifteen years ago… Any attempt to convince us of the sincerity of their remorse is immediately negated by the context in which the apology occurs. It is the view of the HJC that the article and commentary are an attack, once again, on the people of Liverpool. It is our belief that the S*N has seriously miscalculated the intelligence of Liverpool people who, we believe, will see through this cynical attempt to increase sales in the Merseyside region.

There followed much debate on football web sites, TV and radio. The sub-editor apologised over and over again. However, the more we heard him the less we believed him. We, as a campaign, refused to play their game. We would not be set against Wayne Rooney. We disagreed with those who suggested he could make things right by donating his fee (reputedly £250,000) to charity. We didn't care what he did with his money. Once you've sold your soul to the devil you can't buy it back. Even though the apologists cried that he was just a lad of eighteen summers in our view he is old enough to vote, old enough to get married, old enough to join the army and kill people. Moreover, he is an eighteen year old who has grown up in the city of Liverpool where football has dominated his life. Sorry, a plea of ignorance just doesn't wash here.

The S*N stated as part of its 'apology' that: Sadly for some people in the city of Liverpool, forgetting - never mind forgiving - is impossible.

They went on to say that "It is time to move on." I would say to them to look Anne Williams in the eye and tell her that. She longs to move on but how can she when she has been denied justice for over fifteen years? As the S*N so rightly pointed out fifteen years is a long time. No - one knows that more than Anne. That's how long it is since her fifteen year old son Kevin was killed at Hillsborough. That's how long she has been fighting for justice.

The sham of an inquest on Kevin Williams (like all the Hillsborough inquests) did not reveal the truth. More than that though, it misled the jury as to the facts. The Coroner's Court ruled that Kevin Williams was dead or had gone beyond the point of recovery by 3.15pm on the day of the disaster and that his was amongst the worse cases of traumatic asphyxia amongst the dead. Anne Williams knows differently. She knows that having been carried across the pitch by fans on a makeshift stretcher, Kevin was given the kiss of life by an off duty Merseyside police officer who was appalled at the cordon of police standing idly by whilst people died in front of them. Anne also knows that at 4:00 pm in the gymnasium at the Hillsborough ground, her son, whilst in the arms of a special police constable, opened his eyes and said "MUM" before dying. Her son was alive forty-five minutes after so-called British justice says he was dead.

Moreover, rather than him being one of the worst cases of traumatic asphyxia, the truth was that he was one of the mildest. Also three eminent Home Office forensic pathologists have gone on record as saying that he died due to the small fractures in his throat, which, because he was not given a tracheotomy, led to a lack of oxygen. Anne says: My son was alive at 4:00 pm on that day. He would not have died had he received a simple procedure to save his life. But because the police never implemented the Major Disaster Plan or let the ambulances on the ground, Kevin was left to die.

More than fifteen years after Hillsborough, Anne Williams will soon be presenting a memorial to the Attorney General requesting that he quash the original inquest verdict and order a fresh one into the circumstances surrounding Kevin's death. This will not be the first time that Anne's fight for justice has led her to the door of the AG. Her memorial will include even more fresh evidence and arguments as to why he should grant her request. However, Anne is nothing if not realistic. She has had so many doors shut in her face that she is philosophical as to the longevity of her struggle. Should the AG shut his door in her face (and it wouldn't be the first time), she is ready to have his decision judicially reviewed and will seek redress in Europe. She has no illusions when it comes to British Justice. She states: Evidence has been suppressed, statements have been changed. There has never been an inquiry into how Kevin died. At the end of the day he was just a little boy who went to a football match and never came home. I don't believe that Kevin or I deserve this treatment, hiding the real facts from us deprived us of the chance to mourn properly.

Anne is supported in her fight by the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. The group knows that the cover up of Hillsborough goes beyond the injustice meted out to Kevin Williams and his family. Anne agrees: If the Liverpool fans had not thrown themselves in to help the way they did, we would have lost a lot more than 96 people at Hillsborough. It is in the interest of justice that there is an inquiry regarding events from 3.15pm to 4.00pm on the day of the Disaster.

Anne Williams' fight for justice puts the S*N and its comments into perspective. She sees the S*N as a very small cog in the wheel of the establishment cover up. Likewise the HJC refuses to be distracted from supporting those who continue to fight for justice. It will of course, continue to co-ordinate the boycott of the paper in response to public demand but it will retain, as its immediate priority the fight for justice for Kevin Williams.