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Brother of Hillsborough victim hopes inquest will show it was "no accident, it was a disaster waiting to happen"

Steve Kelly, the brother of one of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, is hopi...



Brother of Hillsborough victim...
Soccer

Brother of Hillsborough victim hopes inquest will show it was "no accident, it was a disaster waiting to happen"

Steve Kelly, the brother of one of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, is hoping that the verdict from the inquest into the Hillsborough disaster can finally bring an end to 27 years of pain for the families. 

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Kelly put into context just how important the verdict will be for the families who have been present for two years of evidence and witness testimony which the jury will deliberate on in the coming days and weeks. 

"The main importance for this inquest is to put a terrible wrong right [...] and then when I see Michael's death certificate in future I can look at it and see that it says something hopefully other than 'accidental death'. Because Hillsborough was no accident, Hillsborough was a disaster waiting to happen". 

Kelly added that, like the other families, he believes that "it was bad communication, it was bad planning, it was bad organisation, and hopefully these new inquests will prove that to be true". 

For Kelly, the outstanding moment over the last two years was the revelation by David Duckenfield, the match commander on the day, that he failed to close a tunnel, which caused the deaths of 96 people.  

"All of a sudden he just crumbled and admitted that he lied about opening the gate," said Kelly. "I was stunned in court, I'll never forget it. I was actually looking around thinking 'am I hearing this right, is it just me?'. But then you could see how people's faces were etched with pain to hear this admission after all these years. Furthermore I looked down the line to see his own barrister with his head in his hands, just shaking his head". 

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