‘I don’t want to live in the shadow of Hillsborough any more’

Over the past week, families of Ellesmere Port victims who died in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster have been giving evidence in new inquests at Warrington Crown Court.  Each of them has been giving background portraits of their loved ones.

James 'Jimmy' Hennessy

 

A daughter told the Hillsborough inquests the disaster had stolen her childhood.

Charlotte Hennessy spoke in court about James (or Jimmy) Hennessy.

His sister Karen Gooding also paid tribute to him.

Charlotte, who was just six when he died, said: “Losing my dad at Hillsborough stole my childhood from me and took away my best friend.

“It left me in a life of anger, bitterness and depression.

“I don’t want to live in the shadow of Hillsborough any more and when all this is over, may my dad rest in peace.”

She told the court she had missed out on 9,145 days with her dad as well as 25 Christmases, 25 of her birthdays and 25 of his.

Had he survived he would have been grandad to her three sons.

Charlotte said her dad lived on through his family.

She said she had felt incomplete since his death.

She said: “We had so much to do together, so many memories to make, and Hillsborough took that away from us.”

Mr Hennessy’s sister told the court he was extremely close to his mum.

She said: “Her love for him is endless and, 25, years, on, she still grieves for him with a broken heart that will never mend, all because he went to watch a game of football.”

After leaving school he became a plastering apprentice and around the time of Hillsborough had set up his own business.

Ms Gooding said he loved fishing and would race homing pigeons with his dad, winning many trophies.

She describes her brother as unassuming and said he was into fashion.

She told the court he was “tall, dark and handsome” and said she still saw his smile in her daughter Victoria.

She said: “Jimmy had everything to look forward to. As I mentioned, he was a quiet and extremely private person.

“I would like to think that he wouldn’t mind me writing all this about him.

“I would hope he understands that I had to talk about him because, you see, he was not body number seven to me. He was our Jimmy.”

The final personal tributes to the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster were read out at inquestson Tuesday, April 29.

After the final reading, Michael Mansfield QC thanked the coroner on behalf of the families, for being given the opportunity to give the statements.

He said they have provided a permanent testament to the dignity of human spirit.

The proceedings have now been adjourned for three weeks for legal teams to examine pathology evidence.

The jury will return on May 20 and a stadium visit will take place on May 23.

James Delaney, of Ellesmere Port

 

A man told of his love for his older brother, who died at Hillsborough aged 19.

James Delaney, from Ellesmere Port was remembered by brother Nick, who was just nine when he died.

He said his brother loved animals, bringing worms into the house to show him mum when he was little.

When he was about six he found a hedgehog with a broken leg in the garden and made a splint with lollipop sticks and elastic bands.

He brought it into the house and put it under his bed, feeding it milk and water.

His mum found the hedgehog days later when she was changing his bed and discovered a flea.

By that time the hedgehog was on the way to recovery.

After leaving school James went on to work for Vauxhall in Ellesmere Port.

Nick said: “I was only nine years old when James died but I remember he was a fantastic older brother, he always had time for me.

“He never seemed to be bothered that I always wanted to hang around with him.

“He would take me everywhere and carry me on his shoulders.”

He said his brother used to call them Etch and Sketch.

On the morning of the disaster Nick asked his brother if he could go with him to the game, because he had a spare ticket, and was upset when his brother refused.

He said: “Before he left he said ‘I’ll take you to the final Sketch’.

“I had a smile from ear to ear. But, that final never happened.”

He said at about 4.15pm on April 15, 1989, his mum called him into the house from the garden and hugged him “like there was no tomorrow”.

He said he believed that mother’s instinct had made her do that.

He said: “I believe at that time she knew her son, the rock of our family, was fading away from us.”

He said James’s death had changed the family.

He said: “I had to care for my mum and dad.

Mum’s hard fight against the loss of her son because of Hillsborough came to an end in August 2003.

“My dad’s health spiralled and as a young man I had to care for my dad when he got Alzheimer’s. He lost his fight and passed away in February 2007.”

Nick added: “Even though I was only nine years old on that dreadful day, I still miss my big brother, as much as if it was yesterday.”

Christopher 'Chris' Edwards

 

The dad of a Hillsborough victim told the inquests his son lived his life to the full.

Christopher Edwards, from Great Sutton, was 29 when he died in the disaster.

Dad Sydney read a personal statement at the hearing in Warrington yesterday.

He said he cherished memories of spending time on the golf course with his son and said he would often joke and ask him when he was going to get married.

He said: “His mother and nan always gave me a ticking-off when I asked our Chris whether he was ever going to tie the knot.

“As much as it was a joke then, I often wonder to this day about the family life he could have had, had his life not been cut short.

“The only comfort I have is that Chris experienced what it was like to be loved, and lived his life to the full.”

Growing up, Chris had enjoyed spending time at church, ringing the bells and singing in the choir, where he became head choirboy.

Sydney said: “Religion was important to Chris, and he was still very close to his friends from church at the time of his death.”

He was well liked at school and after leaving became a lab technician.

He inherited his love of football from his dad.

Sydney said: “I introduced him to the game by taking him to see Liverpool around the age of eight or nine, years before he became an avid supporter.

“I, along with a group of other dads, took our sons to the match after work on a Saturday, and Chris got the bug from that point.

“Anfield truly became his second home.

“As Chris grew older, his support for Liverpool took him abroad to the away games.

“He even went as far as Canada, where our relations were.

“Chris was the type of person that would never miss an opportunity and made the most of his life, quietly enjoying it as he went along.”

He described Chris as the “apple of his mum’s eye” and said his sisters Gail and Anne would also do anything for him, but he was there for them in return.

Christopher Devonside

 

The jury in the Hillsborough inquests heard from the dad of a promising sports player.

Christopher Devonside, 18, who lived in Formby having grown up in Ellesmere Port, was remembered in a statement written by mum Jacqueline and read by dad Barry.

Sister Vicki stood with their parents in the witness box.

The court heard he was a cheerful and content toddler with “angelic” blonde curls.

He loved to make people laugh and had a lot to say for himself.

Mr Devonside said: “Christopher’s nan used to look after him when I was out at work, and she complained that he never stopped talking.

“She didn’t really mind, though, because he was the light of her life.”

Growing up in Ellesmere Port, he was cricket captain for his junior school and played in the football and athletics teams – representing the school and the town team in all three sports.

Mr Devonside read part of a letter from his primary school teacher who said that in his 35 years of teaching he had never known any better “all-rounders” than Chris and Rob Jones – Chris’s schoolmate who went on to play for Liverpool and England.

Mr Devonside described his son as a popular and self -effacing young man who had respect for himself, his family and his friends.

When Chris was 16 the family moved to Formby, where Mr Devonside said the family remembered him going out with friends.

He said: “Chris was always very well groomed, clean and fresh and his friends were just the same.

“Endearingly, they all seemed to wear the same clothes: light blue denim shirts, light blue denim jeans and white trainers.”

He added: “There were 10 of them in all and, of the 10, three were killed at Hillsborough.”

Chris studied A-levels in economics, politics and history at Hugh Baird College and hoped to go on to university.

His dad said he was quietly ambitious and hoped to become a journalist.

He was interested in football and had a season ticket for Liverpool but, his dad said, “in no way was he a fanatic”.

Mr Devonside said: “As Chris got older, he became interested in the wider social and political issues surrounding the game of football.

“He believed that the condition of those football grounds he had visited was unacceptably poor and argued passionately that the circumstances surrounding the Heysel Stadium disaster warranted greater transparency and honesty on the part of officialdom.”

He said Chris had talked about taking a year out to go travelling before going to university.

Mr Devonside also read a statement from his son’s friend Tim Knowles.

It said: “He had a sense of perspective and proportion – an insight – that is very rare in a teenager.

“I am fortunate to have been Chris’s friend and I appreciate this opportunity to pay him a small tribute all these years later.”

Mr Devonside said Chris never gave them any problems and was “a wonderful person to be around”.

He said: “Our son went to a football game on a sunny Saturday in England and never came home.

“His life was ended abruptly, prematurely and unnecessarily because of the failures of others preventing Chris from fulfilling his dreams of travel and university.

“We only have this statement to do justice to the person that Chris was and the life he had enjoyed so very much.”