Two Liverpool FC fans tracked down a Hillsborough victim’s parents to tell them their Chester son didn’t die alone, the inquests heard.

The inquests heard the parents of former Queen's Park High School student Henry Rogers, a 17-year-old from Dodleston, were contacted by fans John Owen and David Roland who told them their son had died in Mr Owen’s arms.

But, Mr Owen on Thursday told the inquests into the 96 deaths he no longer believed that was the case.

In a statement he made in 1989, he said: “The next thing I remember was that I was in the six yard box near the goal when I tripped over a foot.

“I looked down and I saw a young lad lying on his back with his right knee in the air and his hand was in the air as well.

“I grabbed his hand and I knelt down beside him. I took his hand and asked him if he was alright. I lifted his head up. I think he was still alive then but he didn’t say anything.”

Henry Rogers

He added: “I saw his eyes roll back and he died in my arms.

“I later saw a picture in the Liverpool ECHO newspaper of this boy and his name is Henry Charles Rogers. I held him for about two minutes when a policeman told me to leave him.”

Photos showed him carrying Henry on a hoarding and kneeling down by him at the Spion Kop end of the ground.

But he said, after experiencing flashbacks five years after the disaster, which happened on April 15, 1989, he believed he helped two casualties on the day and the boy who died in his arms was not Henry.

He confirmed he had visited Henry’s parents, Stephen and Veronica, on April 20, 1989, and told them Henry was not alone when he died.

But he said he no longer believed that the account he gave them was correct.

He told the court: “The accounts I gave first were probably quite rushed and quite hazy.

Police officers link hands as fans make their way on to the pitch at the Hillsborough Stadium on April 15, 1989

“The only thing that I could remember with any great certainty is that I had seen Henry Rogers on that pitch on that day.”

Friend David Roland told the jury he still believed that Henry had died in Mr Owen’s arms.

He said: “I always remember the blazing sunshine shining down on him, so John had him in his arms and I had hold of his hand.”

He added: “He just went lifeless and we got pulled away.”

He told the court he had seen Henry’s picture. He said: “I said to John ‘That’s the lad we were with on the pitch’.”

He confirmed they went to see Henry’s parents in the days after the disaster.

He said: “The exact words I used, because I can remember it to this day ‘We have come to explain to you that Henry wasn’t on his own when he died, and we thought it would be comfort for you to know, rather than not know’.”

Both Mr Owen and Mr Roland attended Henry’s funeral.

The court heard Henry, who was studying for A-levels in maths, chemistry and economics, had gone to the semi-final with his older brother Adam and two friends, Philip Greenough and Carl Willis.

Adam, who was two years older than Henry, died six months after the tragedy when, as a diabetic he did not take enough insulin.

The graves of Hillsborough victim Henry Charles Rogers, 17, and his brother Adam Giles Rogers, 19, at St Mary's Church, Dodleston

In a statement he said they had gone to Sheffield without tickets but had tried to find a tout outside the turnstiles.

He said: “Our group of four were still together at this point and I still thought it would be possible for us to purchase tickets.

“As the crowd crush increased, however, thought of buying tickets were forgotten and I became more concerned for the safety of myself and my companions.”

The friends went into the stadium when the exit gate was opened.

In his statement, Adam said: “We entered the tunnel as a group of four, with me at the back of the group holding on to Philip and Carl with my right hand and Henry with my left.”

He said he lost his grip on his two friends once he was in the pen.

He added: “About midway down the terrace I lost my grip on Henry and while I was forced downwards towards the perimeter fence, Henry was forced sideways to my left.

“We tried to get back towards each other, but it was impossible to do so.

“I would say that this was about 20 seconds after we had emerged from the tunnel.

“The pressure from behind continued to force me through the crowd towards the perimeter fence.”

Counsel to the inquest, Matthew Hill, told the court: “Adam says in the statement that he escaped on to the pitch, that having attempted to assist a number of fans on the pitch and having made enquiries about his brother in the ground and at the gymnasium, he made his way to Sheffield train station and from there back home.”

Footage showed Henry at the front of pen three just after 3pm.

The court heard Karl Knights, a PC, attempted to resuscitate Henry in the pen and carried him onto the pitch after seeing no response.

Resuscitation attempts were also made at the Spion Kop end of the pitch after Henry was carried there on a hoarding.

Martin Shillitoe, a constable with West Yorkshire Police, described helping a man he thought was a doctor to try and revive Henry.

He said: “The doctor said to me, he stopped doing the mouth-to-mouth and he said ‘I think we’ve lost him’, or something similar.”

The court heard Mr Knights came across Henry again at the Spion Kop end of the pitch and carried him into the gymnasium, where he was confirmed by dead by a doctor at 4.20pm and identified by his parents in the early hours of the following morning.