Victims and Prisoners Bill (Fourth sitting)

Sarah Champion Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 22nd June 2023 Public Bill Committees

[The Chair]

I am afraid we only have half an hour. Why don’t we just take questions—then perhaps you can add some points. Is that all right?

Jenni Hicks: Well, there’s something important that I would like to say. I won’t read the whole thing; I will just jump about a little bit.

It took me and the other bereaved Hillsborough families 23 years of campaigning to finally hear from the Hillsborough Independent Panel in 2012 the truth about how our loved ones had died. It then took another four painful years to finally have, in 2016, the correct inquest verdicts that all 96 victims had been unlawfully killed, which I am sure you know is gross negligence manslaughter to a criminal standard. Importantly, the 96 innocent children, women and men—the Liverpool fans who had been cruelly blamed for causing the disaster—were also exonerated at the inquest of any blame whatsoever.

Here we are 26 years later to hear that truth. That can’t happen again. It mustn’t. Other families must not suffer what the Hillsborough families suffered. I mean, 26 years is over a quarter of a century of your life, just to have the truth and the correct inquest verdict. That cannot be allowed to happen. This is why I wholly support an independent public advocate—I keep stressing “independent” because the clue is in the title—and an independent public advocate team. In my opinion, it must be set up in the same way as the Hillsborough Independent Panel was. All the documents should be available to the independent public advocate and his team or her team right from the very start. People should not have to wait 23 years to have documentation of the truth. That is a summary of what I am saying in these notes.

The other point I made in these documents—as you say, I do not have time to read it all out now—is the fact that as it stands at the moment, the Government’s suggestions for an independent public advocate just would not work. It would just not be independent, because it is too dependent on the Minister. It seems that the supposedly independent public advocate will be answerable to the Secretary of State, which does not sound like independence to me.

[Sarah Champion (Rotherham) (Lab)]

Q Who should they be accountable to?

Jenni Hicks: Well, if they are an independent public advocate, they should be like the Hillsborough Independent Panel were; they did not have to answer to anybody. They looked in, saw the documentation, and then reported on what they saw. They were not answerable to anybody, I don’t think. Is that correct, Maria?

--- Later in debate ---

[Rob Butler]

You have made those points incredibly powerfully. Thank you.

[Sarah Champion]

Two quick questions from me. First of all, can I just say thank you so much for coming and sharing your experiences? I am so deeply sorry for what you and so many others have gone through.

Jenni Hicks: Thank you for having me.

[Sarah Champion]

Q How soon do you think an independent advocate needs to be in place when there has been one of these major disasters?

Jenni Hicks: How soon can you do it?

[Sarah Champion]

One of the examples that we heard from earlier witnesses was that they have a series of people who are on stand-by, so they could literally come in immediately.

Jenni Hicks: I didn’t realise that.

[Sarah Champion]

Q Is that something that you would think is a good idea?

Jenni Hicks: Yes. I think it has got to be immediately.

[Sarah Champion]

Q Why is that important?

Jenni Hicks: Because, certainly in our case, there was a huge cover-up. The longer you wait, the longer the cover-up stands, so it has to be immediately. Also, it is in the immediate aftermath that the victims’ families need the support anyhow, so it has to be as soon as. In fact, I think there should be somebody in place or on stand-by.

[Sarah Champion]

Q I really hope that it is not inappropriate to ask my next question. My hon. Friend the Member for South Shields (Mrs Lewell-Buck) has put down an amendment because some of her constituents died in the Manchester Arena attack. Because they were children, the families have not been able to register the deaths—the coroner has. Is it important for families to be able to register the deaths of their loved ones?

Jenni Hicks: Oh yes, and to have the correct cause of death on the death certificate.

[Sarah Champion]

Q Why is that important?

Jenni Hicks: I have four death certificates for Sarah and Victoria. The first two said, “Sarah Louise Hicks. Cause of death: accidental death”, and the same for Victoria, who was 15. Twenty-three years later, we had the death certificates reissued and they said, “Sarah Louise Hicks; unlawfully killed” and “Victoria Jane Hicks; unlawfully killed.” That is very important—extremely important. I agree with the family from South Shields.

[Sir Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire) (Con)]

Q Obviously, the second inquest with Sir John Goldring in charge was after the report by Bishop James Jones and his team. Did you feel that the second inquest was better conducted and gave more of a chance for the victims and their families to express their case? Do you think that that was because of the report that had been done?

Jenni Hicks: Certainly, because we finally had the evidence of what had really happened and the second inquest got to see that evidence where, in the first inquest, because of the 3.15 cut-off, how the victims died and how long they lived afterwards was not put to the jury, because the jury did not ever get to see that evidence. It was deemed at the first inquest that everybody who died had received their injuries before 3.15, which was blatantly untrue. That is why I am saying the transparency of and having that documentation and evidence, if you want to get the right inquest verdict, is imperative.