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A former cop who was on duty during the Hillsborough tragedy said she didn't speak out over fears she would be 'scapegoated' by senior officers.

Yesterday an inquest found the 96 football fans crushed to death at the stadium in 1989 were unlawfully killed .

It was "catastrophic failures" by South Yorkshire’s police and ambulance services that "caused or contributed" to loss of life, not Liverpool supporters who were exonerated by jurors.

But despite the verdict, Fiona Nicol, who volunteered to police the game on her day off, said she was too intimidated by high ranking officers to break her silence.

She told the BBC : "I thought they were trying to blame and scapegoat us and if the opportunity had come they would throw us to the wolves.

"I always kept quiet because I was afraid."

(Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

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

During the inquest it came to light that Duckenfield had ordered an exit gate at the stadium to be opened, allowing thousands of fans to flood in to the terrace.

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This caused the deaths of the 96 and injuries to 776 others, the inquest heard.

The result of the inquest has brought joy to the family's of victims who have fought a 27-year long battle for justice.

(Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror) (Image: Liverpool Echo)

But PC Fiona Nicol has also spoke of guilt at not being able to "do enough" for a 14-year-old boy who died on the pitch.

She was captured on CCTV performing CPR on tragic Adam Spearritt, from Cheshire, after lifting him from the terraces but was unable to save his life.

She said she still believes she "didn’t do enough to save him" and has never returned to a football stadium, even banning her children from going to football matches.

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She told the broadcaster: "It’s just the bad memories - it brings it all back. It brings it back vividly to me, I can hear it and see it still,” she told the broadcaster.

"People were just piled on top of each other and arms and legs. You couldn’t get them out, you couldn’t pull them without hurting them more.

"He was unconscious, he was limp, he could not help himself.

(Image: Mirrorpix)

"They were coming up over the top of me and it was one of the fans as they were pulling up over the top of me, I was screaming at him to help me because I’ve still got hold of the boy’s arm - I never let go of him.

"There was all that chaos going on around me and I was just focused totally on this boy.

"I didn’t do enough, you see. How can you ever lose a child, that’s awful. I didn’t do enough to save him."

Speaking to the BBC about the disaster, she added fans "just piled up on top of each other... arms and legs... and you couldn't pull them without hurting them more".