Hillsborough: Eric Hankin 'warned about disaster terrace'

Eric Hankin was a 33-year-old nurse and father-of-two from Merseyside

A victim of the Hillsborough disaster was warned about the area where the crush occurred by a fellow Liverpool supporter, the new inquests have heard.

Eric Hankin was one of 96 fans fatally injured in a terrace crush at the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989.

He and his group had tried to find a vantage point in the Leppings Lane end of the stadium, the jury heard.

Timothy Lyons said he earlier warned Mr Hankin he would not be standing in the same area due to a previous experience.

Mr Lyons said in a statement that he saw Mr Hankin, a 33-year-old nurse and father-of-two, inside the Sheffield stadium before the Liverpool versus Nottingham Forest tie.

'Waves of pressure'

He said: "Whilst I was waiting for my wife, I saw Eric Hankin come out of the men's toilet and he came over to talk to me.

"I told him that I would not be going into the central pens, especially after what I had experienced the previous year.

Ninety-six fans died as a result of a crush at Sheffield Wednesday's ground during the 1989 disaster

"I told him that my wife and I would be going into pen seven.

"Eric Hankin told me he was going to go behind the goal. It was a short conversation and I do not recall seeing Eric with anyone else."

Mr Hankin worked as a staff nurse at Moss Side Hospital in Maghull, Merseyside.

Stephen Brown, who also worked at the hospital and went to the match with Mr Hankin, described going into pen three.

He said: "Our intention would have been to try to find a vantage point to watch the game, but any plans we had for that were gone as soon as we got in to the crowd and it was just chaos in there."

In his 1989 statement, Mr Brown described how the crush became worse and he saw a man near him fall to the ground with his eyes closed.

He told the court: "It was different waves of pressure, because you would move in one direction and you would get caught in an area.

"The pressure would build and there would be a crush that would increase, increase, increase, and then it would be released and you would move suddenly to the side, or forward, or backwards and then the same thing would happen.

'Not breathing'

"The crushing just increased, released, increased, released and some people were lucky enough to get out when the pressure released."

He said when the pressure was tight he was "completely unable to draw breath".

The court saw a picture timed at about 15:02 BST, two minutes after the scheduled kick-off, which showed Mr Hankin towards the front of pen three.

It is believed Mr Brown was also pictured to the right of his colleague.

Mr Brown managed to escape through an open gate, the court heard.

The jury also heard from two police officers, Richard Liversidge and Stephen Perry, who tried to revive Mr Hankin inside pen three after the crush.

Mr Liversidge, who is now a detective inspector, said Mr Hankin was "limp" and "not breathing".

The two officers tried to resuscitate him but were not successful.

One of Mr Hankin's friends identified his body at 16:41 inside a temporary mortuary at the ground. His father, also named Eric Hankin, travelled to Sheffield to see his son's body the following day.

The inquests, held in Warrington, Cheshire, are due to resume on Thursday.

Who were the 96 victims?

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