Hillsborough Inquests: Son, 15, had to identify father's body

Roy Hamilton had swapped a seated ticket for one in the standing terraces

A 15-year-old boy had to look through photographs of the dead at Hillsborough to identify his stepfather, even though he was carrying identity documents, the new inquests have heard.

Stuart Hamilton said the experience is one of the things that "sticks with me the most" from the day.

He also revealed his father had swapped a seated ticket for one in the standing terraces at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final.

Roy Hamilton, 33, was one of 96 fans fatally crushed at the match.

The father-of-two had swapped his standing ticket for a seat in the stands so two other fans could watch the match together.

His son told the inquests he knew there was a chance his stepfather would try to swap it back for a ticket on the Leppings Lane terraces and told him not to before they separated to go into the ground.

The jury saw footage showing Mr Hamilton inside pen three on the Leppings Lane terraces before the match kicked off.

But Christina Lambert QC, for the coroner, said there was a "real paucity" of evidence about what happened to him later.

Wage slip

It is not known how he made it out of the terraces, if he was given any first aid or how he was taken to a mortuary set up in the stadium's gym.

After the crush, Mr Stuart Hamilton said he went to the coach park and then to a pre-arranged meeting place "four or five times" to try to find his father.

Later that evening, he and his uncle, Robert Alcock, who was also at the match, went to the gym where they looked through pictures of the dead.

Mr Hamilton said: "My uncle was in front of me, but he didn't recognise my father in the photo. He was discoloured."

They identified Mr Hamilton's body at 02:40 BST on 16 April.

The jury heard how police had found Mr Roy Hamilton's British Rail staff ID card, which had his name on, as well as a wage slip in the name of "R H Hamilton".

Questioned by a barrister representing Mr Hamilton's family, the police officer who was assigned to look after Mr Hamilton's body, Tony Cowgill, confirmed that those documents gave him "some indication" of the body's identity.

The inquests, in Warrington, Cheshire, are due to continue on 16 September.

Who were the 96 victims?

BBC News: Profiles of all those who died