Hillsborough disaster inquest finds the 96 victims were unlawfully killed

After 27 years the families of the 96 Hillsborough victims received some comfort on Tuesday.

There were cheers, tears and applause in the courtroom when the jury of nine delivered their verdict of unlawful killing on a majority of 7-2. This was the most crucial of the 14 questions the jury were asked to answer and reverses the decision of the original 1991 inquest. The jury also found that the behaviour of Liverpool fans before the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest was NOT a contributing factor to the disaster.

1989: A young unhappy Liverpool supporter carries some flowers in his team's colours to lay in tribute after the Hillsborough disaster at Anfield in Liverpool, England. Mandatory Credit: Pascal Rondeau/Allsport

This verdict brings to a close the longest jury proceedings in UK legal history, the inquest first sat on April 1st 2014. Sir John Goldring, the coroner, told jurors on Monday that a majority decision of 8-1 or 7-2 would be accepted on the last of the 14 questions they were yet to answer: whether the 96 people who died were unlawfully killed by gross negligence manslaughter. The jury were asked to answer a general questionnaire of 14 questions, this afternoon they will also record the time and cause of death for each of the Liverpool fans who died.

WARRINGTON, ENGLAND - APRIL 26: A relative arrives, wearing a 'Justice for the 96' button badge, at Birchwood Park to hear the verdict of the Hillsborough inquest on April 26, 2016 in Warrington, England. The fresh inquests into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 football supporters were crushed to death, began on March 31 2014 after the initial verdicts were quashed. Relatives of Liverpool supporters who died in Britain's worst sporting disaster gathered in the purpose-built court to hear the jurys verdict in Warrington after a 25 year fight to overturn the accidental death verdicts handed down at the initial 1991 inquiry. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Before sending them out to try and reach a verdict Goldring instructed the jury that, to find that the 96 people who died at an FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989 were, in fact unlawfully killed, they had to be convinced the South Yorkshire police chief superintendent in command at the match, David Duckenfield, “was responsible for manslaughter by gross negligence of those 96 people”. All 14 questions and their answers are below. https://twitter.com/david_conn/status/724902878591197184 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724903007943581696 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724903297908375552 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724903580377960448 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724903911610572800 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724904154439815168 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724904390843322368 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724904537480413184 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724904945380659202 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724905252160442368 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724905503713796096 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724905720521580545 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724905993486872576 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724906252267036673 https://twitter.com/DavidhBrown/status/724906416599896064

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After 27 years the families of the 96 Hillsborough victims received some comfort on Tuesday.

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