Campaigns - boycott to minute's silence

Since forming, as a proactive collection of Hillsborough families, survivors and supporters in Feb 1998, the Campaign has struggled to bring Hillsborough and the continued lack of justice back into the public domain on many occassions.

Many people are aware that all clubs now observe a minutes silence on 15th April following the group's letter campaign. In this section you can read on this and other successes the group has acheived, as well as ongoing activites.

Click here to find out the latest news.

Quick Find - Contact Us

The Hillsborough Justice Campaign
PO Box 1089
178 Walton Breck Road
Liverpool
L69 4WR
Tel / fax : 0151 2605262

email: hjcshop@tiscali.co.uk

Solicitor's Negligence

After the Hillsborough Disaster, over 130 Solicitors were directed from above to form a steering committee of Solicitors who would in effect, monopolise any legal work on behalf of the bereaved families and traumatised survivors. This formation of a steering committee meant that the Government of the day, and the Police Lawyers, were able to monitor closely and scrutinise every shred of evidence which came from the families and survivors. This evidence was carefully selected and processed by, amongst other, police officers from the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad, who were on non-operational duties and under investigation themselves.

The legal help offered by the Solicitors on the steering groups was, in many ways, an absolute disgrace. Some survivors never even saw their Solicitors and the compensation process for injury and trauma was done by post. Even worse is the way in which unemployed survivors were offered sums of £2,000 just before Christmas -maybe it's a coincidence, but Solicitors are cunning manipulators and it's hard to believe that many Solicitors didn't see Hillsborough as a simply money making opportunity. Many survivors felt that their own Solicitors treated them as if they had suffered a mere whiplash injury.

One of the Solicitors on the steering committee was Linskills of Bootle, Liverpool, who advised a traumatised survivor of Hillsborough , Peter Bromilow, to accept £3,000 in 1989, in a compensation claim against South Yorkshire Police Authority. The claim was for physical and psychological injury, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Given that Linskills knew that in 1989, they should have realised that counselling was urgently needed.

Peter Bromilow appeared on a TV show some years later, and after meeting a psychiatrist, he was advised to seek treatment for PTSD. Consequently, he decided to claim against Linskills for Professional Negligence, an extremely serious charge. The claim against Linskills was settled out of court, and not surprisingly, no one was available for comment when Peter Bromilow was awarded £50,000. The money will be held in Trust by Peter's Solicitor to pay for ongoing treatment. Peter Bromilow is a member of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and we have hundreds more who have had similar experiences with Solicitors.

More recently, another member of the HJC, Eileen McBride, won a claim against the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police for psychological injury caused by her experiences at the Hillsborough Disaster. Eileen's case was important because the Judge presiding, Lord Justice Jackson was highly critical of the Steering Committee. The HJC knows many bereaved families who have long called for investigation into the entire role the Steering Committee played, and the Hillsborough Justice Campaign has ongoing legal activities which will root out more Linskills and hold their negligence to Judicial and Public scrutiny.

Bereaved families have been misled into a tangled web of complicated legal litigation stemming directly from the initial legal manoeuvres by the Steering Committee. Over a decade after Hillsborough , the legal battle is only really just beginning and the Hillsborough Justice Campaign has been able to find Solicitors and other legal people whose motives are not purely financial. As a result, we can point to two successful landmark cases, and this is just the beginning of our attempts to gain Justice from the legal process. Obviously, certain details of our legal endeavours must be kept under wraps, but we will keep you updated on the many legal battles which we are involved in.

Finally, we would advise any survivor, rescuer or witness to the Hillsborough Disaster to seriously consider contacting us for advice on any legal steps which you can take.

If you were compensated for physical injury and/or physiological injury, we need to know which Solicitors dealt with you and details of your experiences. Any approach you make with be treated in the strictest confidence and we can, if necessary, offer you the services of Solicitors who we trust.

To any survivors or rescuers who have never claimed compensation, ask yourself how much of your life was stolen from you because of your experiences. We know only too well you can't buy that time back, but professional counselling and possible compensation for injury and physiological damage is your right.

None of us care about money, but we know it's the only language they understand. Our victory against one firm of Solicitors - Linskills of Bootle, Liverpool, will force other Solicitors to take more care in properly advising victims of disasters.