Hillsborough Inquests: Emergency response had 'gone to pieces'

Barry Glover worked as a greengrocer with his father, George

There was a lack of organisation and everything had "gone to pieces" after the crush at Hillsborough, according to a Liverpool fan who tried to help fellow supporters after the disaster.

John Simons, who had been caught in the terrace crush, helped move casualties from the front of an enclosure.

He gave evidence as the new inquests focussed on the death of Barry Glover.

The 27-year-old greengrocer was one of 96 Liverpool fans fatally crushed at the FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989.

Mr Simons had been inside pen three on the Leppings Lane terraces at Hillsborough.

He told the jury that while he had not received any first aid training, he tried to help as the disaster unfolded at the Sheffield stadium.

He said: "Everything had gone to pieces. There was nobody to organise at all."

The jury saw footage of Mr Simons helping to move 16-year-old Kester Ball, another of those who died, from a pile of casualties at the front of pen three.

He added: "The stack of bodies was about eight to 10 people high. There were people moving in the pile of bodies."

Mr Simons said he helped move people towards the back of the enclosure.

'Terrific surge'

After leaving the pen he came across Mr Glover, from Bury, Greater Manchester, on the pitch near the Leppings Lane end goal.

He had gone to the match with three friends.

One of them, Peter Rodgers described how they were "more or less carried" into the stadium by a "rush" of fans through an exit gate that had been opened.

Mr Rodgers said he believed the group made it on to the terraces at around 14:55 BST.

He said as soon as they entered pen three there was a "terrific surge" that pushed them towards the front.

He told the court he had "never seen anything like it" and agreed his movements inside the pen were "involuntary".

Mr Rodgers said the surge separated him from Mr Glover and he never saw him again. He did not hear that Mr Glover had died until a friend told him the next day.

A barrister representing the coroner said that there was "no evidence about how Mr Glover was removed from the pen".

Mr Simons said he came across him "on his own on the pitch" near the Leppings Lane end goal.

He said a police officer performed a check on Mr Glover, stood up and shook his head.

Mr Simons said he covered Mr Glover's face and helped carry him to the opposite end of the pitch.

The jury heard how his aunt, Patricia Glover, and his father identified his body the following morning.

The inquests, sitting in Warrington, Cheshire, continue.

Who were the 96 victims?

BBC News: Profiles of all those who died