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Hillsborough inquest jury retires to consider verdicts after two years

The jury in the inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans at the 1989 Hillsborough disaster has retired to consider its verdicts, more than two years since the hearings began.

The seven women and three men of the jury retired to consider 14 key questions set out by the Coroner Sir John Goldring, in a 33-page questionnaire, including determining if match commander David Duckenfield is responsible for the unlawful killing of the fans by gross negligence manslaughter.

The hearings into Britain's worst sporting disaster first began on March 31, 2014, at a specially built courtroom in Warrington, Cheshire, with dozens of relatives of the 96 attending each of the 308 days the court has sat at Bridgewater Place at the town's Birchwood Park business park.

The Hillsborough tragedy unfolded on April 15, 1989 during Liverpool's FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest as thousands of fans were crushed on Sheffield Wednesday's Leppings Lane terrace.

Mr Duckenfield gave the order at 2.52pm to open exit Gate C in Leppings Lane, allowing around 2,000 fans to flood into the already packed central pens behind the goal.

At the start of the inquests, the coroner said none of the victims should be blamed for their deaths. Emotional tributes to each of the 96 were then delivered by family members in the form of personal portraits.

Jurors have heard months of evidence from more than 800 witnesses on topics including stadium safety, match planning, the events of the day, the emergency response and evidence gathering by police after the disaster.

The 1991 verdicts from the original inquests were quashed following the 2012 Hillsborough Independent Panel report, which led to an apology in the House of Commons from Prime Minister David Cameron.