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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Hillsborough: Officer felt 'bullied' into making different statement | Hillsborough: Officer felt 'bullied' into making different statement |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A former special police constable at Hillsborough has told a jury she was "bullied and manipulated" into making a second statement about the disaster. | A former special police constable at Hillsborough has told a jury she was "bullied and manipulated" into making a second statement about the disaster. |
| In her first account, Debra Martin said 15-year-old Kevin Williams started breathing, opened his eyes and said "mum", before dying in her arms. | |
| Ms Martin told the inquests a police officer harassed her into signing a second version, omitting those details. | Ms Martin told the inquests a police officer harassed her into signing a second version, omitting those details. |
| Former Sgt Julie Appleton strongly denied Ms Martin's allegations. | |
| Ms Martin was giving evidence as the new Hillsborough inquests focussed on the final minutes of Kevin's life. | Ms Martin was giving evidence as the new Hillsborough inquests focussed on the final minutes of Kevin's life. |
| He was one of 96 football fans fatally injured during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Sheffield on 15 April 1989. | He was one of 96 football fans fatally injured during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Sheffield on 15 April 1989. |
| Kevin's mother, Anne Williams, led a long campaign for fresh inquests into the tragedy, but died months after they were ordered in 2012. | |
| 'Cradled' | 'Cradled' |
| Ms Martin, who was part of the policing operation, told the court she had seen Kevin lying on the pitch. | Ms Martin, who was part of the policing operation, told the court she had seen Kevin lying on the pitch. |
| She helped carry him to the stadium's gymnasium, where many of the casualties were taken. | She helped carry him to the stadium's gymnasium, where many of the casualties were taken. |
| There, she tried to resuscitate him and felt a "very, very feeble pulse". | There, she tried to resuscitate him and felt a "very, very feeble pulse". |
| She told the jury: "I just automatically picked him up and cradled him. That's when Kevin's eyes opened and he did say 'mum'. | She told the jury: "I just automatically picked him up and cradled him. That's when Kevin's eyes opened and he did say 'mum'. |
| "He looked straight through me - then his eyes closed and he just went very, very limp altogether, so I placed him down on the ground again and I tried to give him mouth-to-mouth again and heart massage. | "He looked straight through me - then his eyes closed and he just went very, very limp altogether, so I placed him down on the ground again and I tried to give him mouth-to-mouth again and heart massage. |
| "And that's when I got a tap on my shoulder and it was another police officer and that's when he said 'leave him, he's gone, you've done all you can do'." | "And that's when I got a tap on my shoulder and it was another police officer and that's when he said 'leave him, he's gone, you've done all you can do'." |
| The court heard how, in her first statement made shortly after the disaster, she said Kevin "started breathing and opened his eyes". | The court heard how, in her first statement made shortly after the disaster, she said Kevin "started breathing and opened his eyes". |
| She added: "His only word was 'mum' and he then died." | She added: "His only word was 'mum' and he then died." |
| In her second account, signed 17 March 1990, she said: "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know whether to believe the boy was dead - I didn't know if he was dead or not, but I decided I had got to attempt to revive him. | In her second account, signed 17 March 1990, she said: "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know whether to believe the boy was dead - I didn't know if he was dead or not, but I decided I had got to attempt to revive him. |
| "I started to give him mouth-to-mouth, but someone, I don't know who, touched me on the shoulder and told me he was dead. | "I started to give him mouth-to-mouth, but someone, I don't know who, touched me on the shoulder and told me he was dead. |
| "By this time, my head was gone. I was not aware of what I was doing or what was really happening." | "By this time, my head was gone. I was not aware of what I was doing or what was really happening." |
| The statement added that she "can't be positive that the details are accurate" and that she had been "quite badly affected by the whole incident". | The statement added that she "can't be positive that the details are accurate" and that she had been "quite badly affected by the whole incident". |
| Asked why there was a change in her accounts, Ms Martin said: "There was my original statement at the beginning, and then there was a further statement made out by someone else who had written that themselves. | Asked why there was a change in her accounts, Ms Martin said: "There was my original statement at the beginning, and then there was a further statement made out by someone else who had written that themselves. |
| "I had to sign it under duress. What was in that statement was their wording, not mine. | "I had to sign it under duress. What was in that statement was their wording, not mine. |
| "It was a statement that I didn't read at all. It was done under duress and bullying and manipulation. | "It was a statement that I didn't read at all. It was done under duress and bullying and manipulation. |
| "The words you see in the statement are not mine. This statement was actually made to make me look as though I had no idea what I was undertaking on that day, how I just took myself down and it was just not my statement." | "The words you see in the statement are not mine. This statement was actually made to make me look as though I had no idea what I was undertaking on that day, how I just took myself down and it was just not my statement." |
| 'Extreme pressure' | 'Extreme pressure' |
| Ms Martin claimed Ms Appleton, then a West Midlands Police sergeant, called at her home "three or four times" on consecutive Saturdays to talk through her first statement. | |
| "Her main aim was to ensure that I changed my original statement to the statement that she wanted," Ms Martin said. | "Her main aim was to ensure that I changed my original statement to the statement that she wanted," Ms Martin said. |
| Ms Martin also told the court Ms Appleton tried to "tear me to bits", put her under "extreme pressure" and "literally called me a liar". | Ms Martin also told the court Ms Appleton tried to "tear me to bits", put her under "extreme pressure" and "literally called me a liar". |
| Police Federation barrister Sam Green QC said Ms Martin had been "unreliable" in her recollections of the disaster. | |
| "I'm in no position to suggest positively whether you're a fantasist or the genuine victim of your own confused imagination," he added. | |
| "But what I do suggest... is that your version of your dealings with Julie Appleton is wrong and her's is right." | |
| Ms Martin replied: "Her's is wrong and mine is right, sir." | |
| Ms Appleton told the jury she "wouldn't put any pressure on anybody. I didn't try to get anybody to alter a statement." | |
| She added: "I take exception to being accused of bullying Debra. I did not bully Debra. I have every sympathy for the experience she had had." | |
| She said Ms Martin "wanted to clarify things that had happened" and things had changed since the first statement. | |
| Asked by Mark George QC if she was sent to change the part of her account about Kevin possibly "being alive as late as 16:00", she replied: "100% not." | |
| The inquests, in Warrington, Cheshire, continue. | The inquests, in Warrington, Cheshire, continue. |
| Who were the 96 victims? | Who were the 96 victims? |
| BBC News: Profiles of all those who died | BBC News: Profiles of all those who died |