2012 was a very good year for the truth

December 31, 2012 by Mike Nicholson

2012 must go down as the biggest year yet in the fight for justice, and as it draws to an end Irvine Patnick passed away yesterday aged 83.

Sir Irvine Patnick was of course the conservative MP who was forced to apologise after the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report earlier this year for helping to spread police lies about Liverpool fans in the aftermath of the disaster.

Some will say that he’d had 23 years in which he could have apologised, but he waited until the year of his death and the release of the Hillsborough Independent Panel to say sorry. Those words so late, and so forced, appear devoid of meaning.

His death robs us of the chance to interview him about exactly who told him what in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, which is a shame.

Sheila Coleman of the HJC summed it up on Twitter yesterday, when she tweeted “Death of Irvine Patnick highlights the time factor in Hillsborough investigations. Will anyone still be alive to prosecute?”

There are many other people out there who colluded to cover up the real truth of the Hillsborough disaster and in doing so perverted the course of justice. It is essential that the wheels of justice turn quickly now, before any of more guilty men and women go to their grave.

Then there is Anne Williams, mother of Kevin Williams, who is fighting terminal cancer and who after such a long righteous struggle deserves to see truth and accountability before she dies. The sad fact is however that many family members have passed since Hillsborough, and tragically they never got the chance to see the HIP and David Cameron’s apology.

Now the truth is known & publicly accepted, the guilty must surely be brought to book quickly to ensure that nobody else passes before justice is done.

Lets hope 2013 is an even better new year for truth and the fight for justice.

As it is New Year’s Eve, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all very much for the support you have shown to my documentary so far. Producing it is one of the proudest achievements in my life, and I couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement so many have shown. Happy New Year to you all.

Part one of my Hillsborough documentary can be watched online now by clicking here

Part two of my Hillsborough documentary can be watched online now by clicking here

Calling all police officers on duty at Hillsborough on 15.04.1989

September 24, 2012 by Mike Nicholson

There were a great many junior officers on duty that day that did a fantastic job, without senior supervision, to try and help those who were trapped and dying in the Leppings Lane terraces.

Recent documentaries, in the light of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, have seen PC’s come forward and tell their side of the story.

It seems that no matter what depths senior officers were willing to sink, that there are a great number of more junior officers who were, honest, who tried their best and who were horrified at the way their statements were amended to remove any criticism of the police.

I would be forever grateful, if one such hero of the day would step forward and help me tell the story about the real truth of Hillsborough?

The first part of the 3-part documentary is online here:

Please help me unravel this horrendous cover-up. My email is mike_nicholson@hotmail.co.uk

Even if you are unwilling/ frightened to appear on camera, I would still welcome your anonymous comments.

Thank you for reading.

3.15pm

December 16, 2011 by Mike Nicholson

On the 15^th April 1989, the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield was full of heroes.

Some of those heroes were junior ranked South Yorkshire Police officers who seemed to say ‘balls to orders’ and to realise that despite the fact they were not permitted to open gates, that other human beings needed their help.

Most of the police force that day however seemed to be totally transfixed in a fog of misunderstanding; long after the dead and dying were being pulled from the Leppings Lane terraces. How could the police still think it was a case of crowd disorder when the vast majority of those that escaped the Leppings Lane terracing just collapsed on the turf? Look up pitch invasion on YouTube, and I guarantee you that no pitch invasion looks even close to the Hillsborough crowd fighting for their lives.

The majority of the South Yorkshire Police officers were still trying to react to a non-existent pitch invasion, when some of the junior officers had acted on instinct and started to help the injured and dying fans. That mind-set of control over safety led them to keep 43 ambulances full of potentially life-saving personnel to be held outside. There was a long cordon of officers along the half way line. This was presumably to stop Liverpool fans reaching the Nottingham Forrest end of the stadium. That was a massive problem though, because the Liverpool fans trying to reach the Nottingham Forrest end of the stadium were only doing so with make-shift stretchers holding critically ill men, women and children.

Today, I met with one of the latterly described heroes who had no idea that he could be described in such a way. I didn’t want to embarrass him, so I didn’t call him a hero at the time either. But he was, whether he likes it or not.

Tony O’Keefe is a fire-fighter. He’s a Scouser living in London, saving lives every other week – no doubt. On the day of the Hillsborough disaster he travelled to the match hoping to see a great game of football and a Liverpool win en-route to Wembley.

Instead, he saw chaos and death. With other Liverpool fans that day he picked up an advertising hoarding holding 15 year old Kevin Williams. Kevin was unconscious, and being carried to the end of the ground where the paramedics were being held.

Tony left Kevin with helpers after 3.30pm. However, in the subsequent inquiry the coroner stated that everybody who died at Hillsborough would have been dead, or would have suffered fatal injuries, before this time. If they were still alive, they would have been beyond saving by 3.15pm was the coroner’s verdict. The overwhelming evidence however is to the contrary of his convenient time.

Tony O’Keefe, a fire-fighter trained in first aid, was convinced that Kevin was alive. PC Bruder attended to Kevin after Tony left him at the Nottingham Forest end of the ground and he felt a pulse. Special WPC Debra Martin attended to Kevin after PC Bruder. She was adamant that she saw Kevin’s chest move, and he opened his eyes. At this point, SWPC Martin held Kevin in her arms and he murmured the word ‘Mum’ before dying; this was at approximately 4pm – 45 minutes after the coroner said no evidence would be heard. All of these real experiences were however bullied out of the officers who experienced them.

The 3.15pm cut-off means that no jury has heard about the appalling reaction to the disaster. It means that they haven’t heard about how the police, in their ridiculous fog of containment held 43 ambulances and many fire-fighters outside the stadium because they thought ‘they’re still fighting in there’.

I urge you to watch one minute of CCTV from that day, and then come back to me to explain how it is possible to see the desperate escaping of fans as a pitch invasion. If you are satisfied that it was an 80’s style pitch invasion, I’d be grateful if you could leave your serial number and rank.

Kevin Daniel Williams was a clever, bubbly, 15 year old boy. He was alive long after 3.15pm, and he wasn’t the only one.

Why won’t people hold up their hands and admit that they were wrong?

22 years later, we’re still fighting to hear the real truth said out loud.

YNWA.

More reading:

What really happened at Hillsborough

3.15pm – A cut off from justice

What really happened at Hillsborough

The Missing CCTV tapes

About the Documentary

Poems about Hillsborough

Were you there & can you help?