Formby teenager was pulled from gate of terraces by Police Officers at Hillsborough

Stuart Thompson from Formby, who was 17 when he was killed at Hillsborough

A teenage Hillsborough victim had to be pulled from the gate of the terraces after he became trapped under another casualty’s legs, the inquests heard.

Stuart Thompson, a 17-year-old from Formby, had travelled to the game with his brother Martin and friend Simon Hughes and Shaun Boardman, before meeting another friend, Tony Grier, at the Sheffield Wednesday ground.

His brother told the court he sat in the North Stand, after someone offered to swap his Leppings Lane ticket before the game, while Stuart went into pen three with Mr Hughes and Mr Grier.

In a statement, Mr Boardman said he sat in the West Stand, above the pens, and saw his friends on the terraces below.

He said: “I saw the lads singing and they stood on the barrier at the time.”

Mr Grier said he and Stuart stood on the crush barrier as the teams came onto the pitch but fell off. He said Stuart later went to stand behind the barrier, further back in the pen than he was.

A photo taken at about 3.03pm showed Stuart against the fencing at the front of pen three.

The jury heard Stuart was later carried from the pen by police officers.

Eamonn Larkin, who was a PC in 1989, said in a statement: “I went to gate three, which was open, and I saw a young man laying on the ground and he appeared to be trapped by his legs as someone else was laid across his legs.

“It was impossible to get anyone else through this gate without first removing this young man.”

The court heard the young man he described was Stuart, who was shown on footage being removed from the pen at 3.20pm.

Mr Larkin said he performed CPR on him, with the help of officer Thomas Jackson and a Nottinghamshire PC, Brian Walton.

Mr Larkin described seeing Stuart vomit after they had performed CPR for some time.

He said: “I felt a bit of relief when he did. We thought we’d done something.”

But the court heard Mr Jackson and Mr Walton did not recall Stuart vomiting.

Mr Walton told the court they had carried on treating Stuart until a doctor told them he had died.

Stuart was seen on footage being carried across the pitch on a stretcher at 3.27pm.

The jury heard he was left in the area behind the North Stand and then taken into the gym.

In a statement, Mr Jackson said he took Stuart into the gymnasium and remained with him.

He was confirmed dead by a doctor at 4.04pm and identified by his brother, who was 19 at the time, at 12.05am.

Story and photo source: Liverpool Echo