Hillsborough inquests: Woman who lost her father in disaster says her 'childhood was robbed'

Charlotte Hennessy said the 27-year long battle for justice had impacted on her family life

(PA)

A woman whose father was killed in the Hillsborough disaster has described how her “childhood was robbed” by her loss and the ensuing battle for justice.

Charlotte Hennessy was just six when her father died alongside 95 others during the crush at Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989.

She and her family have been among those fighting allegations football fans themselves were to blame for the deaths in a 27-year long struggle that culminated in Tuesday’s inquest verdicts.

A jury found numerous failings with stadium safety and the emergency response, concluding that the fans did not cause the disaster and were “unlawfully killed”.

Ms Hennessy said the long campaign for truth put “lives on hold” for her family and relatives of the other victims.

"It's been my whole life - I don't know any different,” she told Sky News. “I feel like my childhood was robbed from me.

"I feel like I couldn't enjoy my teen years because I was so confused and so angry.

"I don't feel like I've been able to enjoy my children in the last few years as I should have.

"Not only did I have years stolen from what I should have had with my dad but I've also had to sacrifice time with my own children as well."

Her father, 29-year-old James Hennessy had travelled to the match from Ellesmere Port with another victim, his friend James Delaney.

The pair were among those suffocated in terrace pen three at the fatally overcrowded Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough stadium.

A police officer told the inquest how he tried to resuscitate Mr Hennessy on the pitch with a St John Ambulance medic but the father was pronounced dead at the ground’s gymnasium.

In a statement given to the coroner, Ms Hennessy said her short years with her father were the best of her life.

James Robert Hennessy , one of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster. (PA)

“Whenever I was hurt and needed a hug, my dad was there with a hug, but when my dad was hurt and needed a hug, I couldn't give him one,” she said.

“There are no words to describe how much I miss him. My heart broke the day my dad died and losing him broke the heart of my family too…it is like a part of me is missing.

“I am incomplete. We had so much to do together, so many more memories to make and Hillsborough took that away from us.”

The inquest found that errors by the police and ambulance service had "caused or contributed" to Britain's worst sporting disaster.

A banner reading 'Truth' and 'Justice' hangs from Liverpool's Saint George's Hall (Getty)

The names and ages of each of the victims were to be read outside St George's Hall in Liverpool city centre on Wednesday, where a solemn memorial emblazoned with the words Truth and Justice towers over a row of lanterns, one for each of the lives lost in the 1989 tragedy.

South Yorkshire Police, its match commander on the day, David Duckenfield, South Yorkshire Ambulance Service and a number of other individuals could now face criminal prosecution over the deaths.

A continuing police inquiry into the events of the day and a separate probe by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the aftermath of the disaster, are due to conclude by the end of the year.

Any decision on charges by the Crown Prosecution Service is expected to follow within three to six months.

Additional reporting by PA