Hillsborough inquests - November 30

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 30

Police officers may have missed signs of life in Hillsborough victims on the pitch, the inquests into the 96 deaths heard.

The court heard medical and pathology evidence about five of the Liverpool fans who died in the disaster at the semi-final on April 15, 1989.

Footage showed St Helens dad David Hawley, 39, being given CPR on the pitch by police officer Fiona Nicol and a spectator at 3.27pm.

A St John Ambulance volunteer was also seen standing with them.

Ms Nicol was shown covering David's head with clothing before standing up.

Medical expert Dr Jasmeet Soar said there was not enough evidence for him to be certain about the condition of David, who attended the match with his 17-year-old nephew Stephen O'Neill, who also died.

He said: "I can say with confidence and certainty that he was unconscious and unresponsive.

"He could not be breathing and he could not have a heartbeat but - and the caveat is - on the evidence we have reviewed there is still that uncertainty on the duration of the CPR and proper assessment for signs of life.

"So that does leave, you know, a small but plausible chance that signs of life were missed."

The court heard David was carried to the gym and confirmed dead by a doctor some time before 4.15pm.

The court heard Vincent Fitzsimmons, a 34-year-old dad-of-one from Ashton-in-Makerfield, was treated on the pitch by police constable Richard Shimwell, who said he had put his ear to Vincent's chest to listen for a heartbeat after carrying him from the gate to pen three.

Dr Soar said that would not have been a reliable check.

He said: "Especially in a noisy football stadium.

"I think it would be difficult even in a quiet room."

Asked if he could express a view on Vincent's condition at that time, he said: "Not with any certainty. So no."

The court heard about two attempts to resuscitate 19-year-old Colin Wafer.

The bank worker was seen lying in a pile of casualties at the front of pen three from 3.17pm.

He was pulled out through the gate of the pen and placed on the pitch at 3.21pm, where he was given CPR by PCs Glenda Roberts and Melissa Gill.

Footage did not show them assessing Colin before providing CPR, although the camera panned away for 13 seconds as he was placed on the pitch.

Ms Roberts said a St John Ambulance volunteer told them to stop treatment of Colin and she placed an anorak over his face.

Intensive care expert Professor Jerry Nolan said: "I think the fact that they have not observed any response to a period of CPR makes it likely at that stage that Colin is in cardiac arrest, in other words, he's not breathing and doesn't have a heartbeat, but I think we don't have a high level of certainty because we don't really have a reliable assessment at that stage."

Brenda Campbell, representing Colin's family, said: "It is because of the lack of information and the short period of time that leaves open the possibility, would you agree, that Colin may have been breathing - and I accept it is a possibility - and may have a heartbeat at that time?"

Prof Nolan agreed it was possible Colin may have still been alive at that point.

The court heard he was given CPR by other police officers after being carried a short distance up the pitch and was later taken to the gymnasium, where he was confirmed dead at 3.40pm.

A post-mortem showed Colin did not show as many of the classic signs of an asphyxial death as some of the victims.

Forensic pathologist Dr Nat Cary said: "Compared with most other cases, there is very little in the way of findings of asphyxia, particularly in the skin of the face and in the linings of the eyes, and this, amongst many cases, is the sort of case where complications of unconsciousness and/or smothering may have played a prominent role.

"When you put that into the factual setting of him being entrapped in a pile of bodies, that may be highly relevant."

The court heard 23-year-old David Thomas, a painter and decorator from Tranmere, was treated on the pitch by Sheffield Wednesday club doctor Dr William Purcell and off-duty senior nurse David Evans.

Footage from 3.26pm showed the resuscitation attempt had already started and it appeared to continue until he was carried away at 3.33pm.

Dr Soar said "good, forceful" chest compressions were done and the two men, who were joined by St John Ambulance volunteer Ernest Gillatt and ambulance officer Stephen Chippendale, appeared to be checking for a pulse throughout treatment.

He said: "No description of any signs of life, albeit no specific reference to David in their statements, from Dr Purcell, a trained doctor, David Evans, a senior nurse, and then Ernest Gillatt, a trained St John Ambulance man.

"So three people towards the middle or top end of the hierarchy of people I would think would be able to do a reliable assessment and deliver reliable CPR."

He said he thought by the time CPR finished at 3.33pm David was not breathing and had no pulse.

He said: "I would be confident in saying that he had died at that stage and was beyond intervention, in terms of survival."

The court heard David was later examined by ambulance officers and taken to the Northern General Hospital, where he was triaged as dead on arrival.

A dad-of two may have been alive when he was carried from a pile of bodies on the Leppings Lane terrace, the Hillsborough inquests heard.

The court, in Birchwood Park, Warrington, heard Arthur Horrocks, 41, from Bebington, had been given less than a minute of CPR in pen three by police officer Douglas Earls before being lifted into pen two at 3.24pm.

He was then carried onto the pitch, where St John Ambulance volunteer Andrea Fidler and a police officer attempted to resuscitate him.

He was later taken on a stretcher to the area behind the South Stand, treated by ambulance officers Lynn Gillespie and Brian Grady and then taken to hospital.

Forensic pathologists Dr Nat Cary and Dr William Lawler said a post-mortem report for Arthur showed a large bruise on his inner right arm and a cluster of small bruises on his inner left arm, which suggested he had been gripped.

Dr Cary said: "On the factual evidence of him being recovered from a pile of bodies, one possibility is that it occurred as a result of recovering from that pile."

He said it was possible they may have been caused when Arthur was lifted into pen two, taken onto the pitch, or transferred to behind the south stand.

Dr Cary added: "They are possibilities, rather than anything definite, the importance of that is, of course, it is suggesting at each of those points in time he may have had an active circulation."

The court heard ambulance officer Mr Grady recalled feeling a pulse in Arthur's neck while he was in the ambulance on the way to hospital and thought he was breathing faintly.

Prof Nolan said: "It could be that it was true, there may have been a very transient return of a pulse that happens occasionally, but, certainly by the time they got to hospital, it was not there then and also, I think, importantly, it certainly did not last long enough for them to decide not, to stop doing the CPR."

The court heard Arthur was confirmed dead at the hospital at about 3.55pm.