Grieving Hillsborough family urges Andy Burnham to back 'Hicks Rule' amendment
The Hicks family have been campaigning after daughters Victoria, 15, and Sarah, 19, were among the 97 Liverpool supporters crushed to death in the Hillsborough disaster.
Grieving parents, who faced a decades-long fight to correct the official records about their teenage daughters’ death in the Hillsborough disaster, are attempting to change the law so no other families suffer like they did.
Sisters Victoria, 15, and Sarah Hicks, 19, were among the 97 Liverpool supporters crushed to death in the 1989 disaster at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground.
Jenni and her former husband Trevor Hicks spent years campaigning for South Yorkshire Police to correct the official court records, which wrongly stated their daughters lost consciousness within 30 seconds and died a short time later, when in fact it appears they suffered much longer.
Now peers have added an amendment to the Hillsborough Law, in the sisters’ name, which would give families and individuals who have been seriously misrepresented in court proceedings as a result of a public authority's failure to act with candour, the right to apply to a court to correct the public record.
The amendment was tabled yesterday by Baroness Kennedy, Lord Alton, Lord Wills and former prime minister Baroness May as the Hillsborough Law passes through the House of Lords.
The peers explained that this amendment “seeks to grant individuals affected by public authority failures in court the right to make a court application to correct the public record”.
The Hillsborough Law is being brought in to enforce a duty of candour on public officials, with criminal penalties if they lie or mislead.
Jenni said: “Trevor and I are very pleased that Parliament is now due to consider the Hicks Amendment, and we very much hope it will help other wronged families in future.
“We have spent years trying to put right something that should never have happened in the first place. It should not be this difficult for a family to correct the public record when there is a serious factual error.
“We cannot change what happened to Sarah and Vicki, but if something positive can come from our experience, and other families can be spared the same struggle, that would mean a great deal to us.”
The Hicks family had support from Andy Burnham when he was Greater Manchester mayor, and are hoping that as Prime Minister he will back their amendment.
Their campaign to secure a SIOC followed the initial refusal of SYP to correct the legal record, which wrongly states that sisters experienced “swift and sudden [deaths] as shown by the medical evidence.”
The assumption – dubbed “the 30-second rule” – was used in post-disaster cases and presumed victims lost consciousness almost immediately, when in actual fact Victoria and Sarah likely suffered much longer.
Their claim for damages against SYP was dismissed at multiple levels, culminating in a rejection by the House of Lords, when it was the highest court in the land.
Now the SYP Chief Constable has said she backs the parents’ attempts to change the law and introduce the Hicks Amendment.
The Ministry of Justice declined to say whether the Government would support the family’s amendment, when asked by this paper.
A spokesperson said: “The Hillsborough disaster will remain in our national consciousness for the disgraceful injustice that followed, and our thoughts remain with the Hicks family after the devastating loss of their two daughters in the tragedy.
“Candour, transparency, and frankness are at the heart of this bill, and our legislation will change the balance of power so the state can never hide from the people it is supposed to serve.”