Hillsborough families push for swift justice

Lord Justice Goldring was named today as the assistant deputy coroner in charge of the inquiry into the disaster at an FA Cup semi-final on April 15 1989.

Families of the 96 Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough called on him to pick a time and place for the inquest as soon as possible.

Hillsborough Family Support Group chair Margaret Aspinall said: "It's important to give us a time schedule, so we can let the families know.

"It's been 24 years - that's a hell of a long time."

This inquest was ordered after the High Court quashed the original verdicts of accidental death amid growing revelations of catastrophic failures by South Yorkshire police and a massive cover-up.

After a recent legal change Goldring can hold the inquest anywhere in England and Wales if it is in the interest of bereaved families and witnesses.

Relatives have opposed the new inquest being held in Sheffield - home of the disaster and the original overturned inquiry.

Aspinall, who lost her 18-year-old son James, said: "The most important issue is where it's going to be held. The inquest is going to take a long time. Yes, we want it to be thorough but we want it done as quickly as possible."

Goldring was senior presiding judge of England and Wales from January 2010 to December 2012 and sat on the trial of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor's killers.

A new police investigation into Hillsborough and an inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission are also being conducted.

Hillsborough campaigners are backing calls by MPs and miners for an inquiry into the South Yorkshire force's cover-up of its officers' brutal attacks on pickets during the 1984-5 miners' strike.