Hillsborough Parents Launch ‘Hicks’ Rule’ Campaign to Correct Legal Record
Jenni Hicks and Trevor Hicks are fighting to correct the official court record about how their daughters Sarah and Victoria died at Hillsborough – and to create a pathway for other families facing similar injustices.
For more than three decades, the legal record has stated something about Sarah and Victoria Hicks that simply isn't true. Despite overwhelming evidence from subsequent inquiries, official court records still claim the teenage sisters were unconscious within 30 seconds and dead within five minutes of the Hillsborough disaster.
We now know this wasn't the case. Not even close.
Saunders Law stands firmly behind Jenni Hicks and Trevor Hicks in their fight for justice. This is not a fight for compensation, but for truth, dignity, and acknowledgment of what their daughters and so many others endured on that devastating day in 1989.
The Injustice That Remains
Sarah, 19, and Victoria, 15, were among the 97 Liverpool supporters unlawfully killed at Hillsborough on 15 April 1989. In the early 1990s, their parents brought a landmark test case against South Yorkshire Police for the pain and suffering their daughters experienced before death.
That case was dismissed at every level, including the House of Lords (then the UK's highest appellate court), based on what became known as the "30-second rule". The police claim that victims lost consciousness almost immediately and therefore didn't suffer.
The courts ruled that Sarah and Victoria’s deaths were "swift and sudden as shown by the medical evidence."
But that ruling stands as a public record today, even though we now know it to be fundamentally wrong.
The Truth Emerged – But the Records Remain Unchanged
The Hillsborough Independent Panel (2012) and the fresh Hillsborough inquests (2014-2016) made clear that the assumption underpinning those original court decisions was deeply flawed.
Medical and expert evidence demonstrated that many victims remained conscious for up to half an hour and possibly longer. Those who died of asphyxiation at Hillsborough were likely subjected to pressure that waxed and waned, suffering physical injuries and fluctuating levels of consciousness over extended periods.
Victoria, the only female child victim of the crush, was reported by multiple witnesses to be crying for some time. Sarah was seen by numerous witnesses in intense distress, panicked about her younger sister's fate, even desperately trying to hold Victoria up in the surging crowd.
It is now known that Victoria and Sarah may have survived until 15:45 and 15:39 respectively – an hour after the fatal crush started.
Despite these findings, the original court rulings have never been formally corrected.
A Call for Change: The 'Hicks' Rule'
Now, supported by an expert legal team including partner at Saunders Law Nia Williams and lead counsel Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Jenni and Trevor are calling for that record to be set straight and for a 'Hicks' Rule' to be introduced.
This proposed rule would enable people in similar circumstances to easily correct the official legal record where later evidence has fundamentally overturned the facts on which decisions were based.
As Jenni Hicks explains: "For more than three decades, the law has recorded something about our daughters that we now know simply isn't true. This isn't about compensation. It's about truth. It's about dignity. And it's about acknowledging what Sarah and Vicki — and so many others — went through that devastating day."
Trevor Hicks adds: "The injustice here is not abstract. Because the courts accepted the police version of events, we were told our daughters didn't suffer. We were told the law could do nothing more for them. That was wrong then, and it's wrong now."
The Parliamentary Push
On Monday 9 February, the Hicks family will address a parliamentary event in Westminster, bringing together MPs, peers and legal experts to examine how the law can correct historic judicial records where later evidence has fundamentally overturned the facts.
The event will be hosted by Baroness Helena Kennedy KC and will take place in Committee Room 1 in the House of Lords – the same parliamentary location where five Law Lords ruled against Jenni and Trevor in 1992. The symbolism is deliberate and powerful.
The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police has been invited to attend, and the chair of the Football Association is expected to be present.
A Legal System That Must Have the Courage to Correct Itself
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, lead counsel for Jenni and Trevor Hicks, emphasises that this case raises issues far beyond Hillsborough:
"This is about whether the legal system has the courage and the mechanisms to correct itself when later evidence proves earlier assumptions to be false. The findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel and the fresh inquests are unequivocal. This was not a 'swift and sudden death' for Sarah and Victoria — far from it. For an agonising hour they suffered prolonged pain and suffering. And yet the formal legal record remains unchanged. That cannot be right and we are determined to set the record straight."
She added: "The legal system already has a system for putting the record straight – a statement in open court, which is used in defamation cases. Regrettably South Yorkshire Police did not agree to this simple step being used here to correct the decades old untruths about how Sarah and Victoria died."
Our Perspective: Why This Matters
Our partner Nia Williams, who has represented Jenni and Trevor for many years, and also acts as lead solicitor representing over 600 claimants in group litigation against South Yorkshire Police, reflects on the continuing injustice:
"Jenni Hicks and Trevor Hicks have been put through hell. They were even forced to pay legal costs and were almost bankrupted in doing so. Jenni and Trevor have been forced to hear how their daughters were crushed and suffocated, and to relive that horror every day since. And yet South Yorkshire Police refuses to help get the record corrected. With a Hicks' Rule, we will get final justice for Jenni and Trevor, and for all the victims of Hillsborough."
Beyond Hillsborough
The Hicks family are not prescribing a single route for correction. They say Parliament, the courts and the justice system as a whole must now engage with how historic legal findings can be amended where they no longer reflect the truth.
As Jenni Hicks powerfully states: "This is not just about correcting it for our beautiful daughters, it's for everyone who died that day, and for other families that find themselves facing similar injustices and incorrect legal records."
The campaign for a Hicks' Rule represents a fundamental question for our legal system: when the truth emerges decades after court decisions have been made on false premises, should there be a mechanism to correct the record?
We believe the answer must be yes.
How Can We Help
Saunders Law represented more than 600 claimants in group litigation against South Yorkshire Police following the Hillsborough disaster. Partner Nia Williams continues to lead the firm's work on Hillsborough-related matters.
For more information about the Hicks' Rule campaign, or if you have been affected by similar issues relating to historic court findings, please contact us.