Orgreave and Hillsborough disaster campaigner Mike McColgan dies after long illness

Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign activist Mike McColgan has died, after a long illness.
David Kessen
By David Kessen
Published 5th Feb 2022, 00:02 BST
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He gave up his career as a German university lecturer to retrain as a lawyer so that he could represent people fighting for justice, and was involved in the cases of the Orgreave miners in the 1980s and in the fight for to clear the names of football supports and fans over the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

He was aged 83.

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March to mark the 35th anniversary of the Battle of Orgreave during the miners strike. Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign activist Mike McColgan has died, after a long illness.March to mark the 35th anniversary of the Battle of Orgreave during the miners strike. Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign activist Mike McColgan has died, after a long illness.
March to mark the 35th anniversary of the Battle of Orgreave during the miners strike. Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign activist Mike McColgan has died, after a long illness.

A statement from the Campaign said today: “Mike played an important role in the legal team for the 15 miners put on trial in 1985 for Riot or Unlawful Assembly, before the prosecution abandoned the trial and the cases of the the remaining 80 miners were dropped.

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“He was active in OTJC for a number of years, before his ill-health and was one of our legal advisers. Mike was part of our team who produced and presented our legal submission to the Home Secretary in 2015. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad and difficult time.”

Mike also contributed to the work that led to the families of the 97 football supporters killed in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster securing a new inquest verdict which cleared the victims and Liverpool fans of responsibility for the deaths.

The Orgreave Trust and Justice campaign was set up to fight for a public inquiry into the policing of striking miners at the Orgreave Coking Plant during the 1985 dispute.

The site is now occupied by developments including the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, and the Waverley development, near the Parkway.

Related topics:Hillsborough