Accident investigators say that the Kegworth air disaster was caused when pilot Kevin Hunt, who survived the crash, accidentally shut down the wrong engine.
17 March – The three men convicted of murdering paperboy
Carl Bridgewater in Staffordshire 10 years ago have their appeals rejected. A fourth man convicted in connection with the killing died in prison in 1981.
14 April –
Ford unveils the latest version of its small
Fiesta hatchback, which is being built at the
Dagenham plant in England and the
Valencia plant in Spain.
15 April –
94 fans are killed in a crush during the FA Cup semi-final at the
Hillsborough Stadium in
Sheffield during the
FA Cup semi-final between
Nottingham Forest FC and
Liverpool F.C. Around 300 others have been hospitalized. Several of those injured are in a serious condition and there are fears that the death toll (already the worst of any sporting disaster in Britain) could rise even higher.[2] The youngest victim is a 10-year-old boy,[6] the oldest is 67-year-old Gerard Baron, brother of the late former Liverpool player
Kevin Baron.[7]
16 April –
Denis Howell, a former Labour sports minister, urges for the FA Cup final to go ahead this season despite consideration by
The Football Association for it to be cancelled due to the Hillsborough disaster.[8]
Tottenham Hotspur remove perimeter fencing from their
White Hart Lane stadium as the first step towards avoiding a repeat of the Hillsborough disaster is taken in English football.[9]
The Hillsborough disaster claims its 95th victim when 14-year-old Lee Nicol dies in hospital as a result of his injuries. He was visited in hospital by
Diana, Princess of Wales, hours before he died.[10]
19 April – The Sun newspaper sparks outrage on Merseyside with an article entitled "The Truth", which wrongly claims that spectators robbed injured and dead spectators, and attacked police officers when they were helping the injured and dying. See
Hillsborough disaster and The Sun.
20 April - The
London Underground is at virtual standstill for a day as most of the workers go on strike in protest against plans for driver-only operated trains.
28 April
John Cannan, of
Sutton Coldfield, is sentenced to
life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released after being found guilty of murdering one woman and sexually assaulting two others.[11]
Fourteen Liverpool fans are convicted of manslaughter and receive prison sentences of up to three years in
Brussels, Belgium, in connection with the
Heysel disaster at the
1985 European Cup Final in which 39 spectators (most of them Italian) died. A further eleven Liverpool fans are cleared.