Garden Court North Chambers and the University of Manchester host the inaugural Mark George KC Memorial Lecture: Miscarriages of justice following the Hillsborough disaster
13 March 2025
In the first of a series of annual memorial lectures, Garden Court North and the University of Manchester welcomed award-winning Guardian journalist David Conn to speak on the Hillsborough disaster, the families’ fight for justice and the long-awaited introduction of ‘Hillsborough Law’.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (pictured) introduces the Mark George Memorial Lecture on 13 February, 2025, at the University of Manchester. Credit: Alex Blair / Garden Court North Chambers.
Following an introduction by Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, David Conn delivered a powerful presentation, dissecting the legal failures that followed the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Alongside a panel of Garden Court North’s Pete Weatherby KC and Anna Morris KC, David Conn then discussed calls for the introduction of ‘Hillsborough Law’ to impose a legal duty of candour on public authorities.
“What are the Hillsborough families fighting for? Essentially, there was a specific miscarriage of justice, which was the first inquest,” he said. “The prime cause of the disaster was mismanagement of the crowd by the police. The case against the Liverpool supporters was essentially false and the police should never have made it.”
Talking about his time representing Anne Williams, Pete Weatherby KC told an anecdote epitomising her unwavering resilience in the fight for justice for her 15-year-old son Kevin, who passed away at Hillsborough:
“Shortly before her very untimely death, I was talking to her [Anne] when she was recounting that, along the 27 year-journey, she’d been sat opposite a senior police officer who was giving her a book of excuses, she said she’d heard it all before and she had trouble even maintaining her concentration. And then she said to me: ‘I just thought to myself, you’ll give in before I do’”.
What is Hillsborough Law?
The adoption of Hillsborough Law would place a statutory duty of candour on all public authorities, to ensure co-operation, transparency and openness during investigations into major disasters. It would also rebalance the playing field for bereaved families by guaranteeing public funding to assist them in participating in inquests and inquiries.
As put during the lecture by Pete Weatherby KC, “this is not just a Hillsborough issue. It’s an issue which goes across just about all inquiries, controversial disasters and outrages.”
Calls for such legislation have grown louder in the wake of public disasters including the Infected Blood scandal, the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, and Grenfell Tower disaster.
Last September, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised to introduce a Hillsborough Law in Parliament before the next anniversary of the football stadium tragedy. The 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster will be on 15 April 2025– a mere month away.
The Mark George KC Memorial Lecture series
This inaugural Mark George KC Memorial Lecture honoured the late Head of Garden Court North who was part of the team who represented 22 Hillsborough families during the 2014-16 fresh inquests.
“Mark George was a great advocate for the families, as one of the leading lawyers who worked so hard to achieve the landmark inquest verdict in 2016”, David Conn said. “It is a great privilege to be asked to deliver the lecture in Mark’s memory.”
“This lecture series honours him and marks a deepening relationship between our University and leading human rights barristers’ chambers Garden Court North,” said Professor Eithne Quinn from the University of Manchester. “David delivering the first lecture highlights his decades of investigations and reporting on the Hillsborough families’ justice campaign.”
“Mark was many things – a radical barrister, formidable advocate, opponent of the death penalty, lifelong socialist – but above all, a man of integrity, kindness, and wisdom,” said Pete Weatherby KC. “He combined humanity with fierce intellectual commitment. Whether defending protesters or representing Hillsborough families, Mark gave everything to his clients.”
“Mark is a much-missed friend and colleague, and I am glad that a lecture held in his memory highlighted the importance of the Hillsborough Law – if it was in place in 1989, the truth could not have been concealed. Those hiding it would have known they’d be found out and prosecuted. This sophisticated bill has a clear purpose and should be urgently introduced.”
