Inquest into death of West Brom fan will examine medical response in stadium
The response of medics after a football fan was taken ill at a Championship football match will be considered at an inquest into his death later this year, a coroner has ruled.
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A pre-inquest review was held on Thursday following the death of Mark Townsend, 57 – a West Brom fan who died after he became unwell at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium on September 28, 2024.
Sheffield’s senior coroner Tanyka Rawden fixed the date of the inquest into Mr Townsend’s death for September 29, saying it could last up to two weeks.
Deciding the scope of the inquest, Mrs Rawden said the hearing will consider issues including what medical equipment was available at the ground and its “functionality”, what were the qualifications of the medical staff available in the ground, the number of medically qualified staff in the ground and the “response to Mark being unwell”.
She said this would include the “timing of the response, the nature of the response and the appropriateness of the medical treatment given”.
The coroner said the so-called “interested persons” in the inquest, who have a right to ask questions at the hearing, will be Mr Townsend’s family, Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Lambda Medical – the private company which provided medical cover at Hillsborough, and the Sports Ground Safety Authority.
The court heard how there is a “disconnect” between different witness accounts in relation to the timings of the events in the stadium.
But Mrs Rawden said she hoped this would be cleared up by a large amount of CCTV footage which is being provided to the court by Sheffield Wednesday from three different cameras, and which will be shown at the inquest.
Ian Perkins, for Sheffield Wednesday, said there was a medical response “within at least three, if not four minutes”.
The coroner said there will be a further pre-inquest review on August 28, but only if this is needed.
Mr Townsend had travelled to the match from his home in Birmingham.
A number of members of his family attended Thursday’s hearing.
