Gary Church was "one in a million" - Hillsborough Inquests hears

The Hillsborough inquests continued today with more pen portraits of those who died.

Gary Church was 19.

His sister Karen Staniford told the jury about the teenager.

The youngest of four children, Gary was brought up in the Seaforth area of Liverpool.

"Gary was a lovely child and he caused my mum and dad no trouble. He was a typical little boy and he loved to watch and play football.

"He was a member of the scouts which he loved because he got to go away camping with them and he was also a choirboy at Christ Church in Waterloo."

"Gary was extremely close to my mum and dad."

"Not long before Gary passed away, my dad and Gary made a coffee table. To this day my dad still has the coffee table they made together and he cherishes it."

Mrs Staniford said Gary was always good at school.

"He was always really popular at school and had lots of friends. He was also particularly popular with the girls who all seemed to fancy him. He was a real charmer."

After leaving Manor High School, he worked as a joiner.

"He was always hard-working and was just starting out in his career when he passed away."She said her brother was always full of fun.

"Gary would come home from work wearing his mucky work boots and dirty work clothes. My mum would go mad telling him not to sit on the sofa so he didn’t get it dirty.

She would make him sit on the floor until he went and got changed. Gary would walk around the house in his dirty boots just to wind her up and would find it amusing when mum shouted at him."

Gary, who was friends with Christopher Devonside who also died at Hillsborough, was a keen supporter of Liverpool and was a season ticket holder. His favourite player was Peter Beardsley.

"He loved both watching and playing football and he played football for our local pub team, the Doric, every Sunday. He also played in their pool team."

"As well as being the best brother I could ever have wished for, Gary was a loving uncle to my three children, Claire, Christopher and Stephen."

"The week before Gary passed away he took Claire and Christopher, my 6 year old twins, out for their birthdays. He took them to McDonald’s for their tea and then took them to see Roger Rabbit at the cinema.

They were so excited when they found out that Uncle Gary was taking them out. I remember vividly seeing Gary carrying Chris up on his shoulders and he was holding Claire’s hand. It was such a lovely sight to see how much he loved them and how the children equally adored them.

"Gary was one in a million…. He was kind, honest and sincere and would always do his best to help someone if someone was in need.

"Gary was only 19 years old when he passed away and had such a bright future ahead of him. his death has devastated so many people. "To this day, I live just a few doors away from the home my family and I shared with Gary as I was growing up. Each day I look out of the window expecting Gary to come home.

"Gary will always and forever hold a very special place in our hearts."