New inquests begin into deaths of 96 Liverpool fans in 1989 Hillsborough Stadium disaster

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Badges commemorating the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster are seen for sale before Liverpool\'s English Premier League soccer match against Tottenham at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday March 30, 2014. Fresh inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans who were crushed during the FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield Wednesday\'s Hillsborough stadium on 15 April 1989 will take place in Warrington beginning on March 31. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

LONDON – As Liverpool closes in on a first English league title in 24 years, fans are returning to the club’s darkest day.

After years of campaigning, new inquests are beginning into Britain’s worst sports disaster, with families of the 96 Liverpool fans crushed to death at Hillsborough in 1989 hoping for verdicts of unlawful killing.

The High Court in London quashed the original accidental death verdicts last year after secret documents uncovered a coverup by police at Liverpool’s FA Cup semifinal match against Nottingham Forest.

The new hearings could take about a year, and a jury for the fresh inquests was being selected on Monday at a purpose-built courtroom in Warrington near Liverpool.

The inquests are beginning with Liverpool at the top of a league it has not won since 1990.

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