Hillsborough inquests - September 16

The report below - and the witness testimony contained within it - does not necessarily reflect the views of Liverpool FC. Please be aware that the reports on these pages will contain evidence about the day of the disaster which may be distressing.

To view archive reports from each day of the inquest hearings, click here.

Courtesy of the BBC - September 16

There was a lack of organisation and everything had "gone to pieces" after the crush at Hillsborough, according to a Liverpool fan who tried to help fellow supporters after the disaster.

John Simons, who had been caught in the terrace crush, helped move casualties from the front of an enclosure.

He gave evidence as the new inquests focussed on the death of Barry Glover.

The 27-year-old greengrocer was one of 96 Liverpool fans fatally crushed at the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989.

Mr Simons had been inside pen three on the Leppings Lane terraces at Hillsborough.

He told the jury that while he had not received any first aid training, he tried to help as the disaster unfolded at the Sheffield stadium.

He said: "Everything had gone to pieces. There was nobody to organise at all."

The jury saw footage of Mr Simons helping to move 16-year-old Kester Ball, another of those who died, from a pile of casualties at the front of pen three.

He added: "The stack of bodies was about eight to 10 people high. There were people moving in the pile of bodies."

Mr Simons said he helped move people towards the back of the enclosure.

After leaving the pen he came across Mr Glover, from Bury, Greater Manchester, on the pitch near the Leppings Lane end goal.

He had gone to the match with three friends.

One of them, Peter Rodgers described how they were "more or less carried" into the stadium by a "rush" of fans through an exit gate that had been opened.

Mr Rodgers said he believed the group made it on to the terraces at around 14:55 BST.

He said as soon as they entered pen three there was a "terrific surge" that pushed them towards the front.

He told the court he had "never seen anything like it" and agreed his movements inside the pen were "involuntary".

Mr Rodgers said the surge separated him from Mr Glover and he never saw him again. He did not hear that Mr Glover had died until a friend told him the next day.

A barrister representing the coroner said that there was "no evidence about how Mr Glover was removed from the pen".

Mr Simons said he came across him "on his own on the pitch" near the Leppings Lane end goal.

He said a police officer performed a check on Mr Glover, stood up and shook his head.

Mr Simons said he covered Mr Glover's face and helped carry him to the opposite end of the pitch.

The jury heard how his aunt, Patricia Glover, and his father identified his body the following morning.

A victim of the Hillsborough disaster "opened his eyes" after being slapped in the face, according to a police officer who tried to save him.

Carl Maltravers told the new inquests into the deaths of the 96 victims he also believed 29-year-old James Hennessy "started to breathe".

But the court heard a doctor later told him that Mr Hennessy had died.

The hearings, in Warrington, Cheshire, were also told about another of those who died, 19-year-old James Delaney.

He caught a coach with Mr Hennessy from Ellesmere Port to Sheffield to watch Liverpool play Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989.

Both were caught in a crush inside terrace pen three at the Leppings Lane end of the ground, the court heard.

Mr Maltravers said he saw Mr Hennessy lying alone, on his side, on the pitch 10 to 15 minutes after police had stopped the match at about 15:06 BST.

The officer said Mr Hennessy's arm seemed to be "twitching".

In a statement, he said: "He seemed not to be breathing. His nose was full. I slapped his face. I thought his eyes opened."

He added in court: "His eyelids raised and it was in my direction. I can't say that I perceived that he was looking at me.

"Well, he was looking in my direction but I can't say that he was actually seeing me or anything like that.

"I didn't see a reaction. I just know that his eyelids raised and his eyes were open."

Asked if he thought that was a "sign of life", Mr Maltravers answered: "I took it to be a reaction that led me to believe there was something I could do."

Mr Maltravers said that he was joined by a St John Ambulance volunteer medic and they tried to resuscitate Mr Hennessy.

He "spluttered" and vomited, the court heard, before the medic and Mr Maltravers turned him onto his side to try to clear the fluid.

His statement continued: "We were shouting 'Come on! Come on!' and I thought he started breathing."

But in court the officer said he did not remember Mr Hennessy "independently breathing, as such".

A fire officer walked past with an oxygen cylinder, the jury heard.

Rajiv Menon QC, who represents some members of Mr Hennessy's family, said the officer was "told that there was no oxygen in the cylinder, or words to that effect".

Mr Menon asked Mr Maltravers if he thought there were enough oxygen cylinders on the pitch.

"I don't think there was enough of anything on the pitch at the time," he said.

The police officer helped lift Mr Hennessy on to a stretcher and ran with him to the stadium's gymnasium.

The jury heard how Mr Maltravers then checked for a pulse and saw he was turning blue.

A man who he "took to be a doctor" looked into Mr Hennessy's eyes. He said they were "fully dilated" and he had died.

A doctor in the gym confirmed his death at 16:09 BST.

The court heard how Mr Delaney worked in Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port car factory.

His younger brother Nick Delaney has previously said how he was a "fantastic older brother and always had time for me".

The jury heard how efforts were made to resuscitate him on the pitch but did not succeed.

The inquests are due to resume on Thursday.