Hillsborough inquests - October 13

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 Liverpool Echo - October 13

A Liverpool FC fan who picked a victim up in the pen at Hillsborough told the inquests he didn't think what was happening was real.

The court heard Martin Wild, a 29-year-old from Stockport, had travelled to the match with a group including Andrew Kirby.

Mr Kirby told the jury they had gone through exit gate C after it opened and then into pen three of the Leppings Lane terrace, where he described the pressure of the crowd growing around them.

He said he looked over and saw Martin during the crush.

He said: "I could see then that his face was turning blue and that he was obviously in difficulty."

He told the court he tried to speak to Martin but got no response and said he appeared dead.

He said when the pressure relieved and he was able to move he immediately went to Martin.

He said: "He was on dead bodies and I picked him up."

In a statement, Mr Kirby said: "I could tell that he was dead. I knew I could do nothing for him."

He told the court: "He was lifeless."

He said he did not check Martin for a pulse or breathing.

He said: "I was scared, myself. You know, I didn't know what were going off. I didn't think what was happening was real."

Mr Kirby said he then went out through the back of the pen to try and look for other friends.

The court heard from David Barron, who had been a police officer in 1989.

He described carrying three or four casualties from the pen to the inner concourse at the rear of the stand and treating them.

He identified one of those he treated as Martin, but could not be sure which one.

Mr Barron, who was called into the ground at 3.07pm, said in a statement he was "wholly unprepared" for the scene in the pen.

He said: "There was no information as to what to expect. It was a case of, arriving at the scene and literally dealing with what was in front of you."

John Lawrence, a detective constable in 1989, had also described carrying Martin from the pen and giving mouth-to-mouth while another officer gave chest compressions.

He said after attempts to revive him were unsuccessful he covered him with a jacket.

He said a nurse later checked Martin and said he was dead.

The court heard Dr David Monaghan had confirmed Martin as dead.

Martin was later identified in the gymnasium by friend John Murray.

The family of Martin, who was a print worker and lifelong Liverpool FC supporter, was not legally represented at the inquests.

When the hearings began last year a background statement about him was compiled by the solicitor to the inquests as nobody in his family had responded to a request for a personal statement.

A former police officer said he assumed a fan he helped to carry was breathing - but when he returned to him minutes later he was dead.

Andrew Best, who had been a PC in South Yorkshire Police at the time of the disaster, said he had been on duty at the Leppings Lane turnstiles on April 15, 1989, but had gone to the police room after arresting someone.

When he returned to the area at about 3.10pm he saw a man he later identified as 24-year-old Graham Roberts being carried from the tunnel, which led to the central pens.

In a statement he said: "On arrival at the rear of Leppings Lane I saw what can only be described as confusion."

He added: "I had no idea what had happened and could not see any members of my own serial. I helped to carry persons from that area.

"One man I helped to carry was large, approximately 25-30 years, fair hair, not wearing any shirt - he was breathing when I put him on the lane.

"Moments later, when I returned with someone else, I saw that he was dead.

"I was shocked that this would happen at a football match."

Mr Best said he did not check whether Graham was breathing.

He said: "That was an assumption on my part, that he was just unconscious.

"Obviously, I didn't expect to be seeing people dying at a football match.

"But he was unconscious as I brought him out.

"Whether he was alive or dead, I genuinely don't know."

He said he initially took Graham outside of gate C to the service road and someone came to attend to him.

He then left to go back towards the tunnel and said he returned two or three minutes later and saw Graham was unattended.

He said: "I asked the ambulanceman why he wasn't being attended to and he explained that he had died."

The inquests are due to hear more evidence about Graham, from Wallasey, tomorrow (Wednesday).

A supporter who carried a teenager on a hoarding at Hillsborough said when he asked police officers where to take him they were "rude" and "abrupt".

The inquests into the 96 deaths heard additional evidence about 19-year-old Colin Wafer, from Anfield.

The court had heard evidence about the teenager in July, but the jury was told witness Steven Edwards had since been identified as assisting Colin on the pitch.

In a statement Mr Edwards said he had seen a man, now identified as Colin, being resuscitated by St John Ambulance volunteers on the pitch.

Mr Edwards said when the St John Ambulance officer stopped resuscitation and told him he was dead he and another spectator carried him on a hoarding.

In a statement, he said: "When we got to about the halfway line I saw a group of about five or six policemen just standing in a group talking to each other, not helping, just standing around.

"We went over to them and asked where we could take the body.

"A policeman who I would say was about 50 with grey hair (...) told us to put him down.

"I said 'he's dead, the St John Ambulance have already tried', but the policeman said abruptly 'put him down', we know what we're doing'.

"I said 'we just need to know where to take him, he's dead'.

"The policeman snapped 'put him down' and we did.

"I asked if they would cover him up but the policeman was quite abrupt and rude and told us to go away."

Mr Edwards said he believed a police officer had tried to resuscitate Colin, but was not certain.

The court has heard from officers who have described trying to revive the teenager after he was brought to them by fans.