LONDON: The coroner leading fresh inquests into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster assured relatives of the 96 victims yesterday that they will start on schedule in March.
Lord Justice John Goldring told a crowded pre-inquest hearing in London that the inquests would begin on March 31 in the northwest English town of Warrington despite a huge volume of material requiring consideration.
“I certainly remain committed to that date (March 31) and it is partly for that reason that I have sought ... to drive those investigations forward as much as I can,” he said.
He added: “We will start when I’ve said we will start.”
The hearing had heard that the materials involved in the inquest were “unprecedented in terms of scale and complexity”.
The hearing was also told that jurors are likely to be taken to Hillsborough when the inquests begin, while the BBC has agreed to release previously unseen footage from the disaster. A lawyer representing 21 victims’ families said that handheld footage filmed by police at Hillsborough may have been edited, according to an expert who viewed the images. AFP
