Hillsborough compensation law is ‘archaic and inflexible’, say lawyers

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) says the current law, established in the case of Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police in 1992, is “archaic and inflexible”.

Judges ruled that there was no duty of care to the friends and relations of the 96 Liverpool fans who died in the 1989 tragedy at Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium but watched the event on television rather than being at the scene.

A number of people saw their friends and relatives die in the crush and suffered psychiatric harm or nervous shock after the incident.

APIL president Matthew Stockwell addressed peers and MPs at a reception in the House of Commons yesterday. He said: “People who are suffering and very vulnerable are subjected to unfair and unrealistic demands to prove they are eligible to make a claim for compensation to help put their lives back on track.

“In almost every case people have to prove they had a close tie of love and affection with the person who was killed or injured, which is extremely intrusive, especially when someone is distressed or grieving.

“They are also expected to be physically nearby when the death or injury happens before they can be judged to have suffered psychiatric harm when it’s perfectly obvious that you don’t need to actually see someone you love killed to be deeply affected by it.”

Mr Stockwell added: “These people are not just a bit upset. And they can’t claim if their loved one was killed in a genuine accident.

“But if the death or injury happened because of negligence, and real psychiatric harm is suffered as a result, then the person who suffers that harm should be able to claim compensation without jumping through unrealistic legal hoops.”

The Yorkshire Post revealed last month that South Yorkshire Police has asked the Government for millions of pounds in extra funds to help pay for the legal costs and compensation that could arise from the new inquests into Hillsborough.