Hillsborough inquests - November 3

The Hillsborough inquests commenced on March 31, 2014 and are the subject of reporting restrictions that have been imposed by the Attorney General's office. Liverpool Football Club is respectful of these restrictions and will therefore only be making available updates from other media channels for the duration of the inquest.

The report below - and the witness testimony contained within it - does not necessarily reflect the views of Liverpool FC. Please be aware that the reports on these pages will contain evidence about the day of the disaster which may be distressing.

To view archive reports from each day of the inquest hearings, click here.

Courtesy of the Liverpool Echo - November 3

A detective inspector who had not had a first aid refresher in 15 years has told the Hillsborough inquests he felt 'a bit like a spare part' as the rescue operation took place.

Proceedings in Warrington resumed after a ten day break with evidence from South Yorkshire Police officer John Charles, who was a detective inspector in 1989 and was promoted to chief inspector shortly after.

He was asked on the Wednesday before the match to provide officers and was deployed to police Nottingham Forest fans from the coach park before the match.

He and his officers responded to radio communications and went into the stadium through the open gates at the Leppings Lane end and down the tunnel between 2.50pm and 3pm to be met with a scene of 'chaos'.

He told the court he thinks he had a message over the radio as he went into the ground telling officers to clear the stand but did not receive any instructions from senior officers after getting into the pen.

He said at the front of the pen there were a number of bodies against the gate onto the pitch and he saw officers trying to break the fencing because they couldn't open the gate, while others lifted people over onto the pitch so that they could receive first aid.

Mr Charles was asked by Christina Lambert QC, counsel to the inquests, about the officers in his serial and what they were doing.

He said he didn't give any instructions to his officers, adding: "I suppose in a way I lost control at that time.

"I felt a bit like a spare part, I didn't know what I could do to assist."

He said he gave a resuscitation aid to a St John Ambulance woman who was giving mouth to mouth to someone, which was a plastic piece to put in someone's mouth.

He admitted he probably wouldn't have known how to use it but he always carried it with him, even though it had been 15 years since he had done a first aid refresher course.

Mr Charles then spoke of how he helped carry a casualty across the pitch, to the gymnasium.

Asked about the situation there as the space was turned into a temporary mortuary, he said: "I saw a scene of utter chaos. There were people, bodies, laid about.

"I watched people coming in and sort of dumping bodies on the floor and rushing out again."

He left the gymnasium as he wanted to know what was happening to his officers and was told by an officer to clear the ramp in front of the gym, going to the pitch.

He formed a cordon of officers and then went back onto the pitch where he saw an older man, having difficulty breathing, being assisted by a young man.

The man asked if Mr Charles could help and he arranged for him to be put on a board and taken to the gymnasium, where he gave him to the people giving first aid.

He said: "It was still utter chaos, and, I will be perfectly frank, I was looking to get out of there because it was like something from Dante's Inferno.

"It just seemed to be uncontrolled and, you know, it wasn't somewhere you wanted to be. I think, on my part, if I'm perfectly honest, it was a moment of panic."

He described seeing people and bodies all over one area, where there were relatives and friends of the casualties in there.

People were fighting and arguing and Mr Charles was approached by detective superintendent Graham Mackay who got hold of his arm and said 'There's a bit of a public order situation in here, get it sorted out'."

Mr Charles wept as he told how he organised a section of officers to stop people who weren't carrying casualties from coming in.

He lined bodies who he thought were dead into rows and they were given numbers.

When more officers came in he directed each of them to a body and told them they were responsible for that individual until Dr Stefan Popper, the coroner, arrived at about 6.45pm with two pathologists.

At that point the officers "tidied the bodies up as best we could" and they were put into body bags.

Later he confirmed chicken and chips was given to officers while he also witnessed programme sellers handing money in.

He said: "It wasn't with any irreverence or something like that. There was food in the centre. What I didn't want was officers wandering off outside and not coming back. It was all part of the continuity."

Earlier Liverpool supporter Michael Moran described how he tried to help fellow fans who were in difficulty inside the pens.

Mr Moran, who was 25 in 1989 and had travelled with eight friends to the match in two cars, told of the jovial atmosphere before the match and how he remembered seeing mounted officers on his way to the turnstiles, because he had a habit of giving mints to the police horses.

After getting in at around 1.45pm, he went into pen four where there was already a 'decent crowd' in there.

He said he had been in the pen for 20-25 minutes when he felt a "big push" and knew there was something wrong because people were starting to get distressed and panicking.

"The crowd were becoming tighter then I saw a gentleman lifting a young boy up and he was shouting to the gate, to the officer at the gate.

"It was like a wave, ma'am, I've never experienced anything like it in my life."

As the situation worsened, Mr Moran said there was a man in front pushed tightly into his ribs.

"When I looked to my right there was a blonde, strawberry, big lad but I'm sure he was a teenager but he looked as if he was dead to me."

He tried to give the kiss of life to as he was standing up but "as I done it blood come out of his nose and ear."

Mr Moran said a girl nearby was screaming and panicking and he tried to calm her saying 'we'll get out of this, calm down' while he started pinching the ears of the man in front of him to try and get a response from him but there was none.

As he began to struggle himself, Mr Moran said he started breathing "like a goldfish" in small breaths to get air into his lungs.

He said: "Unfortunately the man in front of me slipped down and it gave me a bit of room where I could slowly pull myself out.

"I was very tightly compact, I managed to pull myself out and I had to crawl over people which made me very embarrassed."

He said he got to the fence but there were spikes pointing inwards.

He got over these and lay on the fence but blacked out.

He came to on the pitch near the goalmouth but has no recollection of how he got there.

When he woke up he heard a lot of noise and looked to his left where he saw people lying there, who he presumed were dead.

He saw a boy of about 14 with fair hair.

He said: "I didn't want him to be dead. So I grabbed him by the ear, I was tugging his ear but there was no response."

He was helped by a St John Ambulance woman and two Nottingham Forest fans who made sure was breathing properly and put him in the recovery position before his friends arrived and carried him off the pitch.

The inquests continue.