Hillsborough inquests - November 19

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 - November 19

The Hillsborough inquests heard more evidence that victims could have been saved if they had been given earlier medical treatment.

The court, in Birchwood Park, Warrington, today heard from expert medical witnesses about five of the 96 Liverpool fans who died in the disaster on April 15, 1989.

They included Jimmy Hennessy, a 29-year-old dad from Great Sutton, near Ellesmere Port.

Intensive care expert Dr Jasmeet Soar said there was a "strong possibility" that Jimmy was still alive after 3.15pm - the cut-off time imposed in the original inquests.

The court heard Carl Maltravers, a PC, had described seeing Jimmy's arm twitching and his eyes open as he lay on the pitch between 3.16pm and 3.20pm.

Dr Soar told the court: "I think there's a strong possibility he was still alive at that point or only just recently his heart and breathing had stopped, assuming that description."

Judy Khan QC, representing some members of Jimmy's family, said: "On all of that available evidence, it is right, isn't it, that it is likely that an earlier intervention, earlier medical intervention, in Jimmy's case could have saved his life?"

Dr Soar said: "Potentially, yes."

Dr Soar said he believed Jimmy died between 3.15pm or 3.20pm and 4.09pm - when he was confirmed dead in the gymnasium by a doctor.

The court also heard a description of Jimmy vomiting after being given CPR on the pitch by Mr Maltravers and a St John Ambulance volunteer.

Pathologists Dr Nat Cary and Professor Guy Rutty said the post-mortem recorded a large amount of vomit found in Jimmy's lung and airways.

Prof Rutty said the description raised the possibility that Jimmy had inhaled, or aspirated, stomach contents while alive.

Dr Cary said: "I think we made a comment in our joint report which said his final mode of death may therefore have been as a consequence of failed CPR, accepting that ultimately this chain of events was the result of compression asphyxia."

The pathologists gave Jimmy's cause of death as inhalation of gastric contents due to compression asphyxia.

The court heard there was a possibility that 18-year-old Carl Brown, from Leigh, still had a heartbeat when he was carried out of the pen.

The last evidence of Carl alive was at 2.57pm, when he was moved away from friend Lee Walls in the crush.

He was then shown on footage at 3.26pm being given CPR on the pitch by spectator Gerard Cosgrove and off-duty nursing manager Frederick Eccleston.

Nick Brown, representing Carl's family, said it was not clear how long Carl had been on the pitch before receiving treatment.

Questioning intensive care expert Prof Jerry Nolan, he said: "So it is in fact possible that Carl went into cardiac arrest on the pitch, following recovery from the crush and retrieval from the pen?"

Prof Nolan said: "That is possible, yes."

The original post-mortem for Carl recorded that he died of inhalation of stomach contents, but forensic pathologists Dr Cary and Prof Rutty said they disagreed with that.

They said they believed he died of compression asphyxia.

The time of his death was said to be between 2.57pm and 4.03pm.

Experts struggled to give an opinion on the medical circumstances concerning 21-year-old Steven Fox, from Birkenhead, because of a lack of evidence.

He was shown in a photo in the pen at about 3.02pm, but Prof Nolan said he was unable to tell from the picture what his condition was at that time.

He was later found by police officer Anthony Shelton laid out in an area at the back of the Leppings Lane stand.

Mr Shelton, who was estimated to have found Steven after 3.32pm, found no signs of life.

Ms Khan, representing Steven's family, said: "In light of the very limited evidence that there is in this case, you certainly can't rule out the possibility that Steven's life could have been saved with an intervention at an earlier point, can you?"

Prof Nolan said: "I certainly can't rule that possibility out, no, because I just don't have any evidence to have a strong opinion one way or the other, so that's got to be possible."

Pathologists gave his cause of death as compression asphyxia and said he died sometime between 2.57pm and 4.27pm - when he was confirmed dead.

Photos of two victims in the crowd at Hillsborough show them apparently alive in the minutes before the match was stopped.

The inquests into the 96 deaths heard 19-year-old James Delaney, from Ellesmere Port, had travelled to the match with friends including Jimmy Hennessy, who also died.

The jury was shown a sequence of images of him in pen three at about 3.03pm.

Intensive care expert Dr Jasmeet Soar said: "Our view is that he's possibly alive in those photographs.

"Clearly, there is not certainty, but he is possibly alive."

He said it was most likely that James was alive and conscious when the pictures were taken.

The next footage of James showed him being lifted onto a hoarding on the pitch at 3.27pm.

The court heard resuscitation attempts were made at the Spion Kop end of the ground and James was confirmed dead at 4.02pm.

Dr Soar said it was likely James's heart had stopped beating by between 3.31pm and 3.40pm as he did not respond to CPR.

The court was also shown photos of 24-year-old Derrick Godwin, from Gloucester, on the terrace at 3.02pm.

Medical expert Professor Jerry Nolan said: "The fact that he stands reasonably clear of other people around him, in other words, doesn't appear to have other people supporting his head in any way, I think the implication of that photograph is that he is still alive and conscious, because of the way he is holding his head."

The court heard Derrick was carried to the back of the pen into the inner concourse and there was evidence of him being given CPR on two separate occasions.

He was confirmed dead at 4.27pm.