Shropshire Star

Hillsborough disaster: TNS goalkeeper Paul Harrison recalls the day he waited for his father who never came home

The son of one of the 96 football fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster says an inquest conclusion that they were unlawfully killed was a "landmark day".

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Paul Harrison, goalkeeper and captain for The New Saints Football Club in Oswestry, said he was relieved that the jury had come to the right decision.

Mr Harrison's father Gary and his uncle Stephen were both killed in the tragedy at the FA Cup Semi-Final in 1989.

The ruling of unlawful killing was one of 14 conclusions reached by the inquest jury, which conclusively found that fan behaviour did not contribute to the tragedy.

A host of police figures, including David Duckenfield, the police chief responsible for opening the gates at the stadium, could now face criminal charges.

The jury also concluded that both police and the ambulance service caused or contributed to the loss of lives in the disaster by an error or omission after the crush in the West Terrace had begun to develop.

Allegations of perverting the course of justice, in relation to the cover-up following the tragedy, will also be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Mr Harrison, who attended the inquest conclusion, said he was relieved at the findings, but that it was shocking the truth had been hidden for so long.

He said: "It was basically just a feeling of shock and relief really, after all this time, getting the right decision. It's unbelievable, to keep going and to finally get here 27 years later to get the right decision against the system is pretty unbelievable.

"It really was a landmark day. I don't know if bitter is the right word. Frustrated . . . a bit confused . . . that the authorities can sort of hide these things away for such a long time. I feel a bit confused with a lack of confidence really with the police force and the Government and others. But we got there in the end. It was the right decision and the truth is finally out."

The Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans

Mr Harrison said he was now keen to see prosecutions follow the inquest conclusions.

He said: "We will be speaking to legal teams over the next few weeks, to find out where we go from here and what the next steps are, so hopefully that's the way we will be moving."

Gary Harrison, a married father of two, was 27 years old when he lost his life at Hillsborough. He worked as a driver and had travelled to the game with his older brother Stephen.

His widow Karen told the inquest that Gary was a talented footballer who was on Everton's books. He had two children, Claire, who was eight, and four-year-old Paul, who became an Anfield apprentice. "Gary would have been bursting with pride," she said.

Stephen Harrison was a driver from Liverpool. He married at 18 and his widow, Susan Harrison, told the inquest: "Stephen was my rock, my soul-mate and for our four children, he was their world."

It also emerged on Wednesday that South Yorkshire Police's chief constable David Crompton has been suspended over his response to Hillsborough.

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