Cumbria's top medical officer has hit out at Government efforts to keep files about the Hillsborough football tragedy a secret.
Liverpool fan John Ashton, Cumbria’s public health director, was in the stadium on April 15, 1989, when a human crush caused 96 people to lose their lives and many more suffer serious injuries.
He helped to treat casualties at the scene and certified a number of people dead. In the immediate aftermath he spoke out on behalf of families, raising concerns about the way emergency services responded to the disaster.
Last month the Government was ordered to release confidential documents about the tragedy that were provided to the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Information Commissioner Christopher Graham ruled that this information should be released in the public interest.
But now the cabinet office is appealing against his ruling, saying such a move would preempt the independent Hillsborough Inquiry.
Professor Ashton has criticised this attempt to keep the documents under wraps.
“It beggars belief,” he said. “The families had been led to believe that finally everything was going to be out on the table. This is playing with their emotions in an entirely unacceptable way. It’s outrageous and a disgrace.”
More than 63,000 people have now signed a petition calling for full disclosure of the government documents.
This campaign has been gathering momentum on internet site Twitter, with high-profile figures including Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish and footballer Joey Barton urging their followers to add their name.
Prof Ashton called on the Prime Minister to act.
“These families have suffered for over 20 years. David Cameron needs to intervene with the cabinet office, not just on behalf of the families, important as that is, but for the credibility of his own Government,” he said.
“We shouldn’t be protecting politicians of 20 years ago or defending the actions of public servants, particularly within the police force of South Yorkshire. That wouldn’t withstand public scrutiny.”
Prof Ashton, who was at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest with relatives, dealt with seriously injured fans behind the ground’s Leppings Lane End, where the disaster – the worst in British sporting history – happened.
He said bodies were taken to a gymnasium in the immediate aftermath. But at the end of the afternoon he said medical staff were told to leave the gym while senior officers gathered police inside for a briefing.
“I want to know what was said at that meeting because it’s never been disclosed in public,” he said. “I think they were getting their story straight.”
He also wants to know what was said at a meeting of the ambulance service the following Monday. “I want to see any documents that relate to these two meetings,” he added.
Despite attending memorial services and keeping in touch with some of the families, Prof Ashton said he, along with many others who were there, still finds it difficult to talk about the tragedy.
But he added: “When something like this happens I feel duty bound to speak out on behalf of others.”
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