Hillsborough Inquests: PC 'was kicked' while trying to resuscitate fan

Derrick Godwin (left) and David Benson were among the fans who died at Hillsborough

A police officer at Hillsborough has described how a spectator kicked him in the stomach as he tried to resuscitate a fan who had been crushed.

Kenneth Horsfield told the inquests he was winded by the blow and it interrupted his efforts to save the unconscious fan lying behind a stand.

He said he was "99% certain" it was Derrick Godwin, 24, from Gloucester.

The jury also heard a senior officer asked for bodies to be moved because they were "antagonising" other fans.

The court was also told about the final movements of David Benson, 22, from Warrington.

Ninety-six football fans were fatally injured at the Liverpool versus Nottingham Forest FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield on 15 April 1989.

'People laid everywhere'

The jury saw video footage of PC Horsfield inside pen three, a fenced enclosure on the Leppings Lane terraces, at 15:15 BST - about nine minutes after the match was stopped.

In his statement, written two days after the disaster, he recalled carrying a fan out of the pen and into a concourse area at the back of the stand.

The retired officer said: "He didn't seem dead. I got on my knees, attempted to revive him [with] mouth-to-mouth. I don't know how long for, not long.

"Someone running past kicked me on the right side of my stomach. I was winded for a bit.

"I looked up - people all around, people laid everywhere, some dead, many injured."

Mr Horsfield told the jury he checked for a pulse on the unconscious man but could not find one before starting chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth.

He said: "I was interrupted, to put it politely, by a passing fan. That caused me to stop briefly.

"I have a vague recollection of being approached by two other police officers who took over from me with Derrick."

The crush happened at the Leppings Lane end of the stadium

Kerry Grace, who was a South Yorkshire Police inspector on stand-by, said he was told to go to the ground at 15:10.

He said Supt Roger Marshall, who had been in charge of policing Liverpool fans outside the stadium, told him: "Can you get your men to remove all these bodies because they're antagonising the rest of the spectators?"

Mr Grace said his men then moved approximately 10 bodies from the concourse into a "makeshift mortuary" in a service road.

He did not carry out any checks on the casualties, who were moved because he "presumed" that they had "already been assessed as being dead", the jury heard.

He said: "It was a very - what can I say? - tricky situation because there were lots and lots of very disorderly people in that area at the time and we were trying to keep the situation calm and putting up with a lot of abuse and various things like that."

The jury heard Dr John Ashton, a Liverpool fan who had been at the match, assessed Mr Godwin in the service road at about 16:25 and confirmed his death.

Mr Godwin's mother, Margaret, was informed the following day.

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

The jury later heard about father-of-one David Benson, who was seen in graphic images towards the front of pen three at about 15:03.

Matthew Hill, a barrister representing the coroner, said in one picture Mr Benson was "looking up" and appeared to be "groaning".

Terrence Pitt, a Liverpool fan with first aid training, said after the crush he saw three fans carrying Mr Benson through a tunnel and into the concourse.

In his statement he said, he knelt down, checked Mr Benson's airway and started giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Two police officers also joined.

He said: "I must admit, at times it was slightly chaotic.

"After about five minutes we stopped. There was nothing more we could do."

Mr Benson showed "no change" during the resuscitation attempt and there were no "signs of life".

Brian Benson identified his son's body at 02:05 the following day.

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

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