A bereft father who had to identify his 15-year-old son following the Hillsborough disaster was told by a police sergeant: 'One consolation, your son had not been drinking', it emerged today. Francis Tyrrell said he was left 'flabbergasted' after being 'spoken to like criminals' when he and his family went to identify his son Kevin in the wake of the April 1989 tragedy. Giving evidence at the inquest into the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans during the FA Cup semi-final, Mr Tyrrell told the hearing how he had been 'treated like muck' at the makeshift mortuary which had been set up in the club gymnasium. He said: 'There was no consolation that our son hadn't had a drink when he was standing in them pens probably frightened to death and crying for his mother. Francis Tyrrell told the inquest into the deaths of 96 fans at Hillsborough how he was 'treated like muck' when he went to identify his 15-year-old son (pictured) in the aftermath of the 1989 disaster . 'And it's no consolation to us that it's took us 26 years to try and get justice for him and the other 95. No consolation.' He added: 'We were just flabbergasted the way they were talking to us ... like criminals.' Mr Tyrrell told how he and his wife Margaret and his brother Gerard initially went to Northern General Hospital in Sheffield to look for their son after he did not return home from the match. He told the coroner how the helpful atmosphere at the hospital had been in stark contrast to Hillsborough, where the temporary mortuary had no separation of men, women and children. Mr Tyrrell also told the hearing how he was made to rifle through various photographs of those who had been killed, despite police knowing that his son was among the dead. He told him how, after identifying his son, an officer said to him: 'It is (him). We've got his bus ticket with his name and address on.' When Mr Tyrrell asked why he had not been told this before having to go through the 'unecessary process', the officer allegedly replied: 'We hadn't time to tell people, we've been too busy'. He claims he was also told not to touch his son because 'he belongs to us now, he belongs to the coroner'. He told the hearing how he had been left 'flabbergasted' after being 'spoken to like criminals'. Pictured: Fans flooded onto the pitch in the aftermath of the disaster . Describing the conversation about the alcohol, Mr Tyrrell told how a sergeant asked the family several questions about Kevin before the subject of alcohol was raised. He said: 'When he had finished asking all these questions he just turned around and he said "one consolation, your son had not been drinking". 'And we just sort of looked at him. I was that flabberagasted. I said "he doesn't drink".' A man standing nearby flipped over a table and told the officer: 'What the hell has that got to do with him dying? ', he told the inquest. Mr Tyrrell said: 'I said to my brother "we are getting out of here because they are trying to set us up here". 'We have done nothing wrong and yet we are getting treated like muck, basically.' He also told how a man queuing to identify a family member in front of him asked officers how long it would take, as he had been waiting three hours. According to Mr Tyrrell, the policeman replied: 'I don't know what you are moaning about three hours, I have been here all day.' Mr Tyrrell wrote a letter of complaint to South Yorkshire Police in February 1990 through his solicitors about the arrangements at the gymnasium. In the letter, he said that he should have been spared the 'unnecessary process' and 'traumatic experience' of viewing all the photographs of the deceased, because officers knew his son was dead. The hearing heard how he received an apology in which the police acknowledged they had failed to reach the standard 'manifestly required by the circumstances'. The inquest continues. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
Francis Tyrrell said he was 'spoken to like a criminal' at the football ground . He had gone to identify son Kevin at the makeshift mortuary in club gym . Mr Tyrrell told inquest he was made to rifle through photos of the dead, despite police knowing his son had been killed . Inquest into the 96 deaths heard how police later apologised to Mr Tyrrell .