Paying tribute to Widnes and Runcorn's Hillsborough victims

Five people from the two towns were killed during the FA Cup semi-final clash between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Sheffield ground on April 15, 1989.

They included father and son Tommy Howard, aged 39; and Tommy Howard jnr, aged 14; Kevin Tyrrell, aged 15; and Adam Spearritt, aged 14; all from Runcorn and Peter Thompson, aged 30, from Widnes.

David Benson, who lived in Penketh but worked in Widnes, was also killed. 

Below is the beautiful statements read out by family members remembering their lost loved ones. 

Peter Thompson

Widnes man Peter Thompson died months before his first child was born.

Peter brother’s Denis Thompson gave a heartbreaking account of the 30-year-old engineer’s life during the hearing in Birchwood and said he knew Peter would have been a ‘wonderful father’.

Growing up as the eldest of three brothers, the court heard Peter had a large extended family in Widnes and he had grown up in a ‘warm and happy environment’.

Mr Thompson, who was joined by his brother Tony and their wives Susan and Jude at the hearing, said: “Our dad was a joiner and mum trained to be a teacher when we were younger.

“They were and are hard-working and self-reliant people who Peter inherited his values from.”

He added setting an example for his younger brothers was a role that came naturally to Peter and both brothers looked up to him.

Summer holidays would be spent in Blackpool or North Wales and Mr Thompson said Peter, a member of the venture scouts and TA, was always physically fit and was keen on squash, martial arts and played five-aside.

The former St Michael’s Primary School pupil was described as a ‘hard-working lad who had lots of friends’ and started watching Liverpool in the early 1970s with his school friends.

Mr Thompson added: "His favourite band at this time was Dr Feelgood and he was noted for a fine dancefloor impersonation of the guitarist, Wilko Johnson."

The British Aerospace employee worked in London for a year and his brother Tony said he remembered visiting him and ‘thinking how much he had already achieved through hard work and commitment.’

Mr Thompson added: “He was the best man at Tony’s wedding and I was told to give him a stiff drink to give him Dutch courage as we didn’t think public speaking would come naturally to him.

"The speech went off well, though, and he couldn't resist a reference to the Liverpool match he
was forced to miss in order to be there.”

The jury heard the ‘self-motivated’ engineer worked in Norway, Canada, America and Holland before meeting his wife Linda in Holland and setting up home with her in Wigan.

Mr Thompson said the wedding was a ‘joyous occasion’ for the Dutch and Widnes families and they were looking forward to the birth of their first child.

Their daughter Nikki was born four months after Peter’s sad death and a couple of years later Peter’s wife decided to move back to Holland.

Mr Thompson added: “The families are still in touch and we see as much as we can of Nikki.
“Peter was the kind of person able to get on with people where ever he went.

“He had a warm and generous nature, quick sense of humour and above all was completely without pretension.

“He would, I’m sure, have been a wonderful father to Nikki.

“He was deeply loved by his family and friends and we cherish his memory still.”

Adam Spearritt

A RUNCORN victim of the Hillsborough disaster died in the crush in his father's arms.

Adam Spearritt's mum Janet addressed the jury at the inquest into the 96 football fans who died in 1989.

She said her husband Eddie woke up in hospital to be told his 14-year-old son had died.

Janet added she could ‘write a book about what Adam meant to us’ and the heartache the Hillsborough disaster had caused.

She said: “From the moment he could walk he had a ball at his feet and at weekends I would take him to watch his dad play football and he picked things up quickly.

“His first sentence was 'Come on Mickey lad, take it down the line.”

When the family's second son was born the announcement in the Liverpool Echo read 'brother and goalkeeper for Adam'.

The court heard Adam would try to rope in relatives including his grandma to play sport in the back garden with him and even the window cleaner and postman were invited to kick a ball outside with him.

When he was not playing football, mum Janet said he enjoyed reading Roy of the Rovers comics and collecting stickers for his Panini albums.

She added the former St Mary's Junior and Norton Priory pupil was doing well at school and reports always commented on what a polite, hard-working pupil he was.

The teenager, whose heroes were Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen, played for the school team and Bridge Athletic and scored the winning goal in the Cheshire schools semi final but sadly never got to play in the final.

The jury heard his memory lives on through an annual golf tournament played by his friends and relatives and an under 15s football tournament named after the youngster in Runcorn.

The FA Cup semi-final was Adam’s first away game and Janet said Eddie had ‘struggled to forgive himself’.

She added: “Eddie said it was his job to protect Adam and sadly he died three years ago without knowing his efforts fighting for a new inquest had come to fruition.

“Adam was kind, caring and considerate.

“We all loved Adam dearly and he loved us in return but, more than that, he loved life itself."

Kevin Tyrrell

A RUNCORN teenager who died at Hillsborough dreamed of becoming a footballer.

Kevin Tyrrell, aged 15, was on Tranmere Rover’s books when the tragedy happened and was hoping to be signed for their training scheme.

His parents, Frank and Marje, said he was thrilled when they bought him a season ticket for his 15th birthday. He started going to Anfield when he was 13 and his dad said they never worried about his safety.

Mr Tyrrell said: “Kevin was a football mad teenager and could always be found on the field at the back of the house playing football.”

He played for Brookvale junior and senior school teams and joined Greenbridge when he was 14.

He taught his younger brother, Gary to play and he went on to be a semi-professional footballer.

Hillsborough was Kevin’s first away game.

Mr Tyrrell said: “I had no fear about him going to the game although Marje, Kevin’s mother, was very nervous about it.

“Kevin kept telling her he would be OK and that he wasn’t a baby.

“We never expected our son to go to a football match and never come home, but, sadly that is what happened.

“In the early hours of April 16, after identifying Kevin, as I went to touch my son, I was told that I couldn’t because he now belonged to the coroner.

“He didn’t. He belonged to me and my wife and he was Gary and Donna’s brother.

“To his aunties and uncles and cousins and friends he was ‘Tizza’.

Mr Tyrrell's statement was read at the inquest in Warrington today by Kevin's uncle, Gerard Tyrrell. His aunts, uncles, cousins and friends also came to the hearing to support his parents.

Thomas Howard junior and senior 

A RUNCORN teenager and his dad were looking forward to watching their first Liverpool away game together when they both died at Hillsborough, an inquest heard today.

Thomas Howard, aged 14, had pestered his 39-year-old dad, also called Thomas, to get him a ticket for the semi-final.

His mum, Linda, told the inquest in Warrington that she was reluctant to let him go, but her husband had reassured her, saying ‘He’ll be alright, he’ll be with me.’ She said she didn’t want him to go but knew it would break his heart if she didn’t. She said he was so excited, she couldn’t disappoint him.

She said she remembers everything that happened on the morning of the match, April 15, 1989.

She recalled watching her son leave and remembers waving to him from the kitchen window. She yearned for him to turn and wave again.

She said: “I felt my heart would break if he didn’t. I don’t know why I felt that way, but my Tommy, true to form, turned and gave me a final loving wave.

“I didn’t know that would be the last time I would see him.”

After he died, she said his school brought her some of his exercise books and things he had made in homework.

Linda said: “One of them was a boomerang. How ironic. I remember saying saying to the teacher, but Tommy never came back.”

Mother-of-three Linda said Tommy, her first born, was “so happy and full of life”.

She said he had blonde, curly hair and was so passionate about his hobbies, including karate, that he made them all want to join in.

She added: “He always wanted to be like his dad and loved going to matches with him.

“He was just a normal schoolboy who wanted to be like his dad. He had everything going for him.

“He just wanted to go to the football match and watch his team play.”

Her son, Alan, and daughter, Gail, recalled how distraught they felt when the news was broken to them.

Alan said: “To be sat down and told by our mother one spring morning that our father and brother had gone to heaven when we were just 11 and eight years of age is something we found exceedingly difficult to come to terms with and still do today.

“It is saddening that he isn’t with us to see his beautiful grandchildren, his grandson being given his first name in his and our brother’s memory. All because they only went to watch a game of football.”