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| Hillsborough families' taxpayer-funded legal fees exceed £63m | Hillsborough families' taxpayer-funded legal fees exceed £63m |
| (1 day later) | |
| The Home Office spent £63.6m covering the legal costs of the families of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster, government figures have revealed. | The Home Office spent £63.6m covering the legal costs of the families of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster, government figures have revealed. |
| The bill includes the cost of solicitors, experts, counsel, and disbursements between 31 December 2012 and 30 June this year. | The bill includes the cost of solicitors, experts, counsel, and disbursements between 31 December 2012 and 30 June this year. |
| Legal firms that received payment from the specially created Hillsborough Families Legal Representation Scheme include Broudie Jackson Canter, Harrison Bundey, Birnberg Peirce and Merrill Corp. | Legal firms that received payment from the specially created Hillsborough Families Legal Representation Scheme include Broudie Jackson Canter, Harrison Bundey, Birnberg Peirce and Merrill Corp. |
| In April, a two-year inquest concluded that the 96 people who died at the Hillsborough football stadium disaster in 1989 were unlawfully killed and a catalogue of failings by police and the ambulance services contributed to their deaths. | In April, a two-year inquest concluded that the 96 people who died at the Hillsborough football stadium disaster in 1989 were unlawfully killed and a catalogue of failings by police and the ambulance services contributed to their deaths. |
| The inquest, the longest running in British legal history, was established after the Hillsborough independent panel highlighted new evidence relating to the tragedy when it reported its findings in 2012. | The inquest, the longest running in British legal history, was established after the Hillsborough independent panel highlighted new evidence relating to the tragedy when it reported its findings in 2012. |
| The high court subsequently quashed the verdicts returned in the original inquests, launching a new inquest in 2014, and the government committed funding to cover the legal costs of the victims’ families. | |
| Responding to the new inquest verdict in April, Theresa May, then the home secretary, said she wanted to ensure the legal representation scheme for the bereaved families continued and that there would be “no holding back” in pursuing criminal charges against those responsible for the disaster. | Responding to the new inquest verdict in April, Theresa May, then the home secretary, said she wanted to ensure the legal representation scheme for the bereaved families continued and that there would be “no holding back” in pursuing criminal charges against those responsible for the disaster. |
| Most of South Yorkshire’s costs during the inquest were met by £19.4m of special grant funding from the Home Office after South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissoner, Alan Billings, warned that the cost of legal fees could bankrupt the force. | Most of South Yorkshire’s costs during the inquest were met by £19.4m of special grant funding from the Home Office after South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissoner, Alan Billings, warned that the cost of legal fees could bankrupt the force. |
| Commenting on the new figures, Steve Rotheram, MP for Liverpool Walton and Labour’s candidate to be mayor of the Liverpool city region, said: “The public purse could have been spared this cost and the Hillsborough families the heartache of a two and a half decade delay in reaching the right verdict, if they had received sufficient legal funding for the first inquest in November 1990. | Commenting on the new figures, Steve Rotheram, MP for Liverpool Walton and Labour’s candidate to be mayor of the Liverpool city region, said: “The public purse could have been spared this cost and the Hillsborough families the heartache of a two and a half decade delay in reaching the right verdict, if they had received sufficient legal funding for the first inquest in November 1990. |
| “If they could have afforded the best lawyers 26 years ago, the injustice wouldn’t have happened. It shows yet again why, when bereaved families are up against public bodies at inquests, they need fair legal funding.” | “If they could have afforded the best lawyers 26 years ago, the injustice wouldn’t have happened. It shows yet again why, when bereaved families are up against public bodies at inquests, they need fair legal funding.” |
| In July, a spokesperson for law firm Broudie Jackson Canter, said government funding had been crucial to obtaining justice for the families of the Hillsborough victims. “This is doubly iniquitous where organs of state are involved as their pockets seem, by contrast, limitless,” they said. | In July, a spokesperson for law firm Broudie Jackson Canter, said government funding had been crucial to obtaining justice for the families of the Hillsborough victims. “This is doubly iniquitous where organs of state are involved as their pockets seem, by contrast, limitless,” they said. |
| “The Hillsborough families were fortunate to have the support of both the home secretary, now prime minister, and the shadow home secretary and most importantly to parity of funding with the police. Without this it would have been impossible to mount a full challenge and impossible to have achieved the result which we did.” | “The Hillsborough families were fortunate to have the support of both the home secretary, now prime minister, and the shadow home secretary and most importantly to parity of funding with the police. Without this it would have been impossible to mount a full challenge and impossible to have achieved the result which we did.” |
| • This article was amended on 4 November 2016. An earlier version said that the attorney general quashed the verdicts returned in the original inquests. This has been corrected to say the high court quashed the verdicts. |