Theresa May urges Prime Minister to look at 'ramifications' of collapsed Hillsborough trial to ensure justice

Former Prime Minister Theresa May has spoken out strongly in support of the families of those unlawfully killed in the Hillsborough disaster.At Prime Minister's Questions, she urged Boris Johnson to change the law to ensure families affected by major incidents "get the justice" they deserved.

She said the recent trial of three men in connection with Hillsborough collapsed because evidence about the altering of police statements could not be classed as a perversion of the course of justice.

In response the Prime Minister said he would "always consider opportunities to review the law and how it operates" and would look into the Hillsborough case.

Former chief superintendent Donald Denton, 83, retired detective chief inspector Alan Foster, 74, and Peter Metcalf, 71, who was solicitor for the force in 1989, were acquitted after Mr Justice William Davis ruled there was no case to answer.

It was alleged they changed police statements following the disaster on 15 April 1989 to minimise blame on South Yorkshire Police.

In a ruling handed down at the Nightingale court at the Lowry theatre in Salford Mr Justice William Davis said the amended statements were intended for a public inquiry into safety at sports grounds led by Lord Justice Taylor, but that was not a course of public justice.

He concluded there was no case fit for consideration by the jury based on any of the six counts on the indictment.

The families of the 96 victims say they felt ‘let down’ after the trial into of two retired police officers and a solicitor collapsed. Credit: PA Images

  • Full House of Commons transcript:

Theresa May: "In April 1989, 96 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed at Hillsborough. Yet nobody has been successfully prosecuted for their part in those unlawful killings.

"The most recent trial collapsed because although it was accepted that police evidence had been altered because it was evidence to a public inquiry it did not constitute perversion in the course of justice.

"Will my right honourable friend urgently look at the ramifications of this judgment for current and future public inquiries and ensure that in future people are given the justice that has been so cruelly denied to the families of the Hillsborough 96?"

Boris Johnson replied: "Of course the families of the 96 who died in the Hillsborough disaster, and those who were injured have shown tremendous courage and determination."

He continued: "I can give her [Theresa May] the assurance that we will always consider opportunities to review the law and how it operates if necessary and we will certainly be looking at the case she describes."