Sat15Apr1989 - Hillsborough disaster kills 96 fans

[TonyGosling]

“41 people might have survived” – the Hillsborough report’s findings
“The truth is out today and the justice starts tomorrow,” says the chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group following the report of an independent panel examining 450,000 documents related to the disaster.
http://www.thejournal.ie/hillsborough-report-main-findings-593040-Sep2 012/

THE REPORT BY the independent panel tasked with scrutinising all documents pertaining to the Hillsborough stadium disaster has been released today and contains a number of revelations.

The panel, chaired by the Bishop of Liverpool the Reverend James Jones, has overseen the examination of 450,000 documents related to the disaster and their publication today along with its report.

The disaster at the Sheffield football stadium led to deaths of 96 people in a crush at the Leppings Lane end of the ground with hundreds more injured. An inquiry later found that the failure of police crowd control was the main cause of the disaster.

In the years that followed it has emerged that officers from South Yorkshire Police conspired to cover-up their involvement in the disaster and lay the blame at the foot of the fans in order to deflect criticism from themselves.

No one has ever been criminally prosecuted for what happened on 15 April 1989.

In a statement to the House of Commons today, Prime Minister David Cameron said that he was “profoundly sorry” for what he described as a “double injustice” for the families of those that died.

Here are a few of the key findings of the report published today and which you can read in full here.

Emergency response
Neither South Yorkshire Police nor the South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service fully activiated their major incident procedure as the disaster unfolded on the afternoon of 15 April 1989.
Only two major Sheffield hospitals correctly activated their major incident procedures.
A lack of activation of such procedures “significantly constrained” an effective and appropriate response to the disaster.
The panel found that there was “clear and repeated evidence of failures” in the emergency response.
Many junior ambulance staff and police officers as well as fans attempted resuscitation and to transfer casualties but there was no “triage” and a lack of “basic necessary equipment” for medical treatment of casualties.
The report states that 28 of those who died had no obstruction to their blood flow and that 31 people’s heart and lungs continued to function after the 3.15pm cut-off point (see more below).
In a press conference, the panel said that 41 people had the potential to survive after the 3.15pm cut-off point.
The panel said that on the evidence from the documents disclosed some of those who were partially asphyxiated in the crush survived for a significant period after 3.15pm.

Police cover-up/media briefing
The panel found that among the main flaws in the police operation were the checks that were carried out on victims of the disaster to “impugn their reputation”.
In relation to statements from officers from South Yorkshire Police who were present at the stadium, the panel found that 164 statements were significantly amended with 116 of these having negative or unfavourable comments about the police’s actions or conduct removed.
The source for The Sun newspaper’s infamous ‘The Truth’ frontpage was a local news agency in Sheffield, Whites Press Agency, whose journalists met with a local Conservative MP Irvine Patnick and members of the police force.
The panel said that the union for police forces in England and Wales, the Police Federation, met on the 19 April 1989 – the day The Sun printed its story.
A representative from SYP confirmed that they had been “putting our side of the story over to the press and the media” and that this had been his priority.
The Police Federation meeting heard that a “defence” had to be prepared and a “rock solid story” had to be presented which would exonerate the “force” and place the blame on “drunken, ticketless” fans.

Inquests
The panel found that there were “profound concerns about the conduct and appropriateness of the inquests”.
The panel said that the imposition of a 3.15pm cut-off point by the coroner Dr Stefan Popper, after which no evidence of the emergency response was heard, and the recording of a single, unvarying pattern of death was “unsustainable”.
Blood alcohol tests were carried out on those who had died, including children.
Documents provided “no rationale” for this “exceptional decision”.
The panel found that “the weight placed on alcohol levels, particularly in the Coroner’s summing up at the inquests, was inappropriate and misleading”.
Blood alcohol levels were tested in some survivors who attended hospitals in Sheffield but there is no record of these tests or their results in medical notes and no “apparent medical reason for the test”.

In his statement today, Prime Minister David Cameron said that victims families were correct in their belief that authorities attempted to create “a “completely unjust” account of events at Hillsborough.

“The families were right,” he told MPs.

[TonyGosling]

Criminal probe into Hillsborough 'essential'

By Guy Jackson (AFP) – 23 hours ago

LONDON — A former top policeman called for a criminal investigation into the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, a day after a report found police tried to cover up their errors by blaming fans for the tragedy.

Richard Wells, who was in charge of South Yorkshire Police from 1990 to 1998, said Thursday it was "absolutely essential" that a criminal probe be held into the way police had handled the disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans died.

The force itself meanwhile announced it was reopening an investigation into its own conduct.

And West Yorkshire's police authority said it would investigate the role played by current chief constable, Norman Bettison, who at the time of the disaster was a serving officer in the South Yorkshire force.

Campaigners have called for Bettison, who insists the behaviour of some fans inside Hillsborough made the police's job "harder than it needed to be", to resign.

As the ramifications of Wednesday's damning independent report into the disaster became clear, Football Association (FA) chairman David Bernstein offered "a full and unreserved apology" to all those affected.

Bernstein's statement however only came after relatives had demanded the FA apologise for awarding the match to Hillsborough in Sheffield, south Yorkshire, even though the stadium did not have a valid safety certificate at the time.

After the report was published, the FA had initially issued a statement welcoming the findings but offering no apology over the events at the match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest 23 years ago.

In the later statement however, Bernstein went further.

"We are deeply sorry this tragedy occurred at a venue the FA selected," he said.

"This fixture was played in the FA's own competition, and on behalf of the Football Association I offer a full and unreserved apology and express sincere condolences to all of the families of those who lost their lives and to everyone connected to the city of Liverpool and Liverpool Football Club."

The report found that senior police officers had mounted a concerted campaign to cover up failings in the worst disaster in British football history.

In the most heart-rending of the findings, the independent panel found that 41 of the 96 who died might have survived if the emergency services' response had been better coordinated.

Many of the victims died from suffocation as they were crushed in the midst of a trapped crowd of fans.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister David Cameron apologised to the families of the dead and injured following the publication of the report, saying they had suffered a "double injustice".

Cameron said Attorney General Dominic Grieve would review the findings as soon as possible and decide whether to apply to the High Court for new inquests into the deaths to be held -- a key demand of relatives of the victims.

The original inquests in 1990 and 1991 recorded verdicts of accidental death.

Relatives of the victims of the disaster have vowed to push for those responsible to face justice.

Liverpool's manager at the time of the disaster, Kenny Dalglish, who attended a vigil in the city on Wednesday, said on Twitter: "Very positive outcome. 23 years waiting for the truth next step justice."

Jack Straw, a former Labour Party interior minister, claimed that the police's reaction to the disaster had illustrated the "culture of impunity" created by the then Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.

In comments that angered Conservatives, he said the police in the mid-1980s "really were immune from outside influences and they thought they could rule the roost, and that is what we absolutely saw in South Yorkshire".

Senior Labour politician said the police felt they could do what they liked in the years after the 1984 miners' strike, in which he said they played such a crucial role on behalf of Thatcher.

Straw expressed regret that a review he ordered in 1997 had failed to "get to the bottom" of the tragedy or expose the police cover-up revealed by Wednesday's report.

[TonyGosling]

Masters of cover-up: How the Establishment closes ranks to protect its own and deny the people the truth
By Stephen Glover = PUBLISHED: 23:14, 14 September 2012 | UPDATED: 17:47, 17 September 2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2203524/Hillsborough-disaster- cover-How-Establishment-closes-ranks-protect-own.html
All his life, STEPHEN GLOVER has believed in Britain’s great institutions. No more. The sad lesson of Hillsborough is how the Establishment — judges, police chiefs, civil servants — closes ranks to protect its own and deny the people the truth
Cover-up, lies, obfuscation and incompetence: these are the defects in the police and ambulance service revealed by this week’s damning report into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster in which 96 people died.
It has taken 23 long years to establish the shaming truth, which is that senior police officers manipulated evidence to hide police failings while attempting, with great success, to blacken the good name of the innocent people who needlessly perished.
Evil is a strong word, but some of the things the top brass of South Yorkshire Police are alleged to have done — the doctoring of 116 statements to remove criticisms of the force; the imputation of excessive alcohol consumption where none had taken place — would appear to warrant such a description.
Prosecutions and civil actions will doubtless follow as some of the guilty are finally brought to justice, and there will surely have to be a new inquest. At last everyone seems to be united in condemning the authorities.
Senior police officers and politicians beat their breasts. David Crompton, current chief constable of South Yorkshire Police, tells us his force is in a ‘very different place in 2012’, the implication being that what has happened could never happen again because the police have changed.
But couldn’t it? Have they? I wish I could believe it. Alas, I don’t. Hillsborough has been a classic institutional cover-up which has only been brought to our notice because of the heroic persistence of the relatives of those who died. The Establishment mindset — to hide wrong-doing and ineptitude and never say sorry until it is too late — has not altered.
As a young journalist I believed in the integrity and good sense of most of our institutions. Of course, there were bad apples and stupid mistakes, but there were enough good and honest people in charge to come clean and own up when things went badly wrong.
After a succession of scandals over recent years, it grieves me to say that I no longer believe this is true, and I don’t suppose it ever was. One episode after another has revealed a familiar and melancholy pattern of skulduggery and concealment.
Nearly all the institutions which I was taught to revere as a child have turned out to be self-serving, incompetent or dishonest — the police, Parliament, the Church, the civil service, government, the City and, I regret to say, some parts of the Press.
A dear and distinguished friend of mine blames the relentless media for hollowing out one institution after another, and lowering them in the public esteem. I’m afraid he’s wrong. The media have simply shone lights where they used not to be shone, and illuminated practices which all of us had hoped did not exist.
In a way, the most shocking thing about Hillsborough is that no one is really very surprised. The police have lost much of the respect they used to command. I was certainly brought up to trust them, and can remember throwing aside in disgust a book by George Orwell in which he doubted the decency of the police.
But maybe he was right. Of course, there are many brave and conscientious police officers. It’s their bosses I worry about — people like the then Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair, who tried to block an independent inquiry into the shooting in cold blood by one of his officers of the young Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005.
Look at Parliament. When I was a boy, I believed there were few more honourable letters to have after your name than MP. Even when I was in the Commons press gallery 30 years ago I still looked up to parliamentarians, though I was beginning to learn they did not always tell the truth. That was long before the more recent MPs’ expenses scandal.
Of course many MPs were innocent of any fiddling, but just as many weren’t. In fact, 389 of them — more than half the Commons — were asked to pay back money to the taxpayer amounting to more than £1 million.
A hard core were straightforward crooks, and three MPs (and two peers) went to prison. But the majority were simply greedy, claiming for items they should have purchased themselves. It was depressing that some of the miscreants were privileged and supposedly gentlemanly Tory MPs who should have known better.
Have things improved? I’m not at all convinced they have. Recent figures show that in 2011/12 MPs’ expenses rose 26 per cent to £89.4 million, which is close to pre-scandal levels. First-class rail travel, supposed to be exceptional, is again becoming the norm. Fifty MPs have even been allowed to claim for expensive iPads. Why?
As with the police over Hillsborough, endemic wrong-doing among MPs remained secret for many years, and was ultimately exposed as a result of the efforts of outsiders, in this case the Press.
But it’s not just the institutions of the State that have let us down. As the son of a clergyman, I was brought up to believe that, come what may, the Church could be trusted. How wrong I was, and how saddened my father would have been to read about the cover-up of hundreds of paedophile cases in the Roman Catholic Church.
His own Church of England has also betrayed its congregations, albeit on a smaller scale. A recent internal report into the Diocese of Chichester disclosed a familiar picture of senior clergy being slow to act in sexual abuse cases, putting the Church’s reputation before the interests of children and their families. If you can’t trust a priest, whom can you trust?
Then there are the bankers. Some of them, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland’s disgraced former chief executive Fred Goodwin, showed recklessness and greed while behaving as if the banks were their own private property. Here it is hard to believe that their predecessors of 50 years ago were as rapacious and blindly egotistical.
Most of all, we have been disheartened by the lies and evasions of government. I believe that Tony Blair manipulated the evidence in taking this country to war against Iraq. It is perfectly true that most observers thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. What Blair did was to exaggerate the potency of weapons that turned out in any case to be fictitious.
His response to the growing case against him was a classic Establishment ruse — to appoint a friendly judge, in this instance Lord Hutton, and give him a narrow brief. Nine times out of ten a judge-led inquiry will obligingly come up with findings which suit the government of the day.
That was the case with Lord Hutton, though his implausible exoneration of Mr Blair may possibly be reversed by Sir John Chilcot’s inquiry, which has yet to deliver its verdict. This is being impeded by the Coalition’s refusal to allow it to publish relevant Cabinet papers. As ever, the Whitehall mandarins who stand behind every government live in fear of openness and candour.
The repeated failures of judge-led inquiries implicate the judiciary in the secretiveness that disfigures so many of our institutions. Another example is the clean bill of health Lord Chief Justice Widgery handed out to the Army after the ‘Bloody Sunday’ massacre in Londonderry in 1972.
It took nearly 30 years for the full truth to emerge after a further — and absurdly prolonged — inquiry. Lord Savile judged that the Army overreacted and lost control, and in all probability had fired the first shot.
Despite this finding, I should say that the Armed Forces remain for me one of our few national institutions not to be tarnished by secretive double-dealing and cover-ups. In clinging to this view I hope I am not being simple-minded.
Hillsborough itself offers further proof of the inadequacy of judge-led inquiries. We should probably not be too critical of Lord Justice Taylor’s initial investigation since he was not given full access to the thousands of documents examined by the independent panel which has come up with the withering report about the South Yorkshire Police.
Nonetheless, the Taylor Inquiry was far from grasping of the extent either of police incompetence at Hillsborough or of the subsequent mendacity. So was a subsequent report produced by Lord Justice Stuart-Smith in 1998.
In fact, it has taken the independent panel, chaired not by a judge but by the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, to get at the truth of what really happened. Among the nine members on the panel there wasn’t a single judge and only one lawyer. Most unusually, there were two journalists, one of whom has experience of investigative journalism.
Isn’t there a lesson here? Judges are Establishment figures who seem generally loath to produce reports critical of government or state institutions, which is doubtless why governments are so eager to appoint them.
Let’s hope that Lord Justice Leveson, who is currently writing a report into media ethics, shows he is a free spirit rather than an official stooge. I say that as someone who condemns the News Of The World’s phone-hacking, as well as The Sun’s egregious misreporting in 1989 of what happened at Hillsborough.
But in a country beset with secretive and sometimes dysfunctional institutions, we surely need a free and independent Press that dares to expose their shortcomings, as happened in the case of MPs’ expenses.
The all-important question is why our institutions should behave in this way and resist being accountable. My tentative suggestion is that they have been reluctant to adapt to the democratic age. They retain a conviction that they know what is best for us.
There is a sense in which politicians, the police and the civil service still regard us almost as serfs with limited rights. The NHS offers a good example. Its intentions are entirely benevolent but it can also be high-handed and inefficient. Patients are often treated with indifference, and sometimes with contempt.
The police and ambulance service at Hillsborough were supposed to be serving the best interests of the fans, but as a result of incompetence only let them down. Then they strove to cover up their mistakes without consideration for those who had died or their relatives.
What they had not counted on was the endurance and hunger for justice of the families of the victims. I am speaking of brave hearts such as Trevor Hicks, chairman of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, who lost two daughters in the tragedy. Year after year he and others like him campaigned for a terrible wrong to be recognised, only to be rewarded with insults, indifference and stone-walling.
One of the most moving responses to the report came from Becky Shah, whose mother died at Hillsborough. She said: ‘I have mixed feelings. I am relieved that Liverpool fans, survivors and the dead have been exonerated, and the city of Liverpool, too. But I was a young woman of 17, who lost her only parent at Hillsborough, and the fact that it has taken more than half of my life to get justice is absolutely outrageous in a democratic society.’
She’s right, of course. It is outrageous. But it is also inspiring that ordinary families should have taken on the authorities in the direst of circumstances and, with the help of some good and brave people, finally prevailed.
There’s good cause to be disenchanted by the way the police and so many of our other institutions cover up their mistakes and wrong-doing. I’m certainly not naive enough to believe that the wall-to-wall apologies mean that something like this can’t happen again.
But the strength and determination of the families on behalf of those they love does give me some hope. It is a kind of victory. And maybe, just maybe, the people who oversee our self-serving institutions will begin to hear the message that the people have had enough.

[item8]

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

Hillsborough probe 'to be UK's biggest into police conduct'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19922092
Deborah Glass: "We will do everything in our power to investigate these allegations."

Continue reading the main story

Hillsborough papers

Chief apologises over statement Thatcher row over police cover-up Key excerpts Key findings

The biggest ever independent investigation into police wrongdoing is to be carried out following a damning report into the Hillsborough disaster.

The IPCC police watchdog and director of public prosecutions have announced they will both launch inquiries into possible crimes committed by police.

The IPCC said both serving and former officers would be investigated over the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans in 1989.

The Hillsborough Family Support Group said it was "too good to be true".

The Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer will review evidence relating to how the 96 fans died, which could lead to charges of manslaughter through gross negligence.

Meanwhile, the IPCC said it would look at whether there was a criminal cover-up by South Yorkshire Police of failings by the force.

A "large number" of current and former officers now face investigation over claims made in a report on the Hillsborough disaster, the IPCC said.

The Hillsborough Independent Panel last month revealed 164 police statements were altered - 116 of them to remove or change negative comments about the policing of the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Sheffield stadium.

It said police and emergency services had made "strenuous attempts" to deflect the blame for the disaster on to fans

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIpSeQ7Y5rM

[TonyGosling]

Disgraced Hillsborough officer Sir Norman Bettison linked to campaign to smear Stephen Lawrence family
Jonathan Brown , Paul Peachey , Cahal Milmo
Wednesday 03 July 2013

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/disgraced-hillsborough-offi cer-sir-norman-bettison-linked-to-campaign-to-smear-stephen-lawrence-f amily-8686211.html

A former chief constable who was accused of involvement in a police cover up in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster is to be investigated over claims that he sought to influence the evidence of a witness to the Macpherson Inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence.

Sir Norman Bettison was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) by the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson.

Forces nationwide have been ordered to carry out a trawl or records and archives by the Home Secretary to establish whether attempts were made to discredit members of the Lawrence family though intelligence gathering or surveillance.

Mr Burns-Williamson said he had “significant concerns” about Sir Norman's conduct when he was an assistant chief constable with the force after becoming aware of three documents referring to a report into a key witness who gave evidence to the inquiry when it sat in Bradford in October 1998.

“This may suggest an attempt to intervene in the course of a public inquiry and influence the manner in which the testimony of a witness, who was due to present evidence before it, was received,” he said.

“This is a matter which needs to be thoroughly investigated, and if wrongdoing is demonstrated those responsible must face the consequences of their actions,” he added.

Last week Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd referred his force to the IPCC amid claims that officers gathered intelligence on those attending the inquiry into the teenager's death.

Sir Norman stood down as Chief Constable of West Yorkshire last year at the request of the then police authority which was led by Mr Burns-Williamson.

He has faced repeated calls from the families of Hillsborough victims to be stripped of his knighthood and his £83,000 pension after the independent report into Britain's worst sporting tragedy found evidence of an alleged smear and disinformation campaign....

[TonyGosling]

As not on the BBC this evening
wonder why?

Masons colluded, Hillsborough court told
Police constable tells inquest representing 75 victims’ families he did not come forward about masonic meeting earlier for fears over his job
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/17/hillsborough-disaster-p olice-masonic-conspiracy

David Conn - The Guardian, Wednesday 17 December 2014 20.19 GMT
Hillsborough disaster commemoration Anfield

Senior South Yorkshire police officers who were freemasons orchestrated a “masonic conspiracy” to shift the blame after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, the inquests into the deaths of the 96 victims have been told.

Maxwell Groome, a constable at the time, said that after the disaster at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s football ground, “the word” inside the force was that freemason officers held a meeting to blame superintendent Roger Marshall.

Groome said he heard that the meeting took place in portable cabins at South Yorkshire police’s area office, and was attended by Chief superintendent David Duckenfield, who had commanded the match.

Questioned by Michael Mansfield QC, representing 75 families whose relatives were killed at Hillsborough, Groome said he believed Duckenfield was “a grandmaster of a particularly influential lodge” – the Dore lodge in Sheffield.

Groome also told the inquest that senior officers pressured junior officers to change their statements after the disaster, because they were “terrified” of criticism of the force’s command. He said he was “duped” into agreeing to the changes, because he believed if he did not, he would never be called to give evidence to Lord Justice Taylor’s official inquiry or to the first inquest, and his statement would be “magicked away, dumped in a box, never to see the light of day again”.

Groome said a colleague, PC Brookes – whose first name was not given in court – called the inquiry team at West Midlands police to complain it was “a masonic conspiracy”.

Groome said Brookes told him West Midlands police asked if he could prove the conspiracy. Brookes told them he couldn’t, and Groome said they concluded it would not be investigated.

Asked why in earlier accounts about the events of the day he did not include the rumoured meeting of freemason officers, Groome replied: “Basically, I’d have been committing professional suicide.”

Marshall, who was in command outside the Leppings Lane turnstiles at Hillsborough, had requested a large exit gate to be opened, to alleviate a crush of Liverpool supporters outside the ground, and allow a large number in. The jury has heard that police did not close off a tunnel inside, which led to the Leppings Lane terrace’s crowded central “pens”, that many of the incoming fans headed down it, and the lethal crush happened in those pens.

Groome said he subsequently heard of the meeting between senior officers, said to have included Duckenfield, superintendents Roger Greenwood and Bernard Murray, Inspector Steven Sewell and Chief inspector David Beal.

“Being unable to prove it, I believe that most of them were masons,” he said.

The coroner, Lord Justice Goldring, sent out the jury of seven women and four men to allow legal discussions after Groome gave his evidence about the freemasons’ meeting. At the end of the day, the coroner referred the jury to “evidence of a meeting said by Mr Groome, on the basis of rumour, to have taken place on the morning of April 16”.

Goldring told them: “I should say this quite clearly to you: we have no other evidence than this rumour, said to emanate from the [South Yorkshire police] area office. It amounts to no more than what the witness described as ‘scuttlebutt’.’”

Groome, who on the day helped Liverpool supporters carry one of the 96 victims, Colin Wafer, 19, on an advertising hoarding being used as a makeshift stretcher, said the police operation as the disaster unfolded was “chaotic”. The inquest was shown Groome’s original statement – typed “recollections” made on plain paper after the event. He said officers were told not to write their accounts in their official police pocketbooks. Groome’s criticisms, which were removed in handwritten amendments after he submitted the statement, included a comment that “certain supervisory officers were conspicuous by their absence”.

Asked by Jonathan Hough, counsel for the coroner, to whom that comment was referring, Groome replied: “Duckenfield”.

Groome had also written: “The control room [where Duckenfield was in command] seemed to have been hit by some sort of paralysis.”

Other criticisms he made in his statement, which were also deleted, included the decision not to delay the match’s 3pm kick-off; reductions in police manpower; staffing of the control room; that “too many officers were sitting around in the gymnasium” and pointed to the removal from command at Hillsborough of the experienced officer, Chief superintendant Brian Mole. The jury has heard that Mole was replaced on 27 March 1989, 19 days before the semi-final which 54,000 people would attend, by Duckenfield, who had never commanded a match at Hillsborough before.

Groome subsequently signed a typed up version of his amended statement, he says, because he feared that it would not see the light of day otherwise.

The “main thrust” of the pressure to change his statement was, Groome said: “They were terrified of junior officers criticising senior officers and therefore, in their eyes, undermining the command structure of South Yorkshire police.”

The inquests continue.

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

Police face questions over the influence of the Freemasons after it emerged match commander and his boss were both members

By Martin Robinson, Uk Chief Reporter For Mailonline
15:35 26 Apr 2016, updated 00:14 27 Apr 2016
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3559607/Police-face-questions- influence-Freemasons-emerged-match-commander-boss-members.html

Match commander David Duckenfield and former boss Brian Mole members of same lodge
Duckenfield was promoted despite not being 'best man for job'
South Yorkshire Police colleagues said to have been furious over decision
Year after disaster Duckenfield became a 'worshipful master' of local lodge
Powerful force: Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield, pictured a month after the disaster, was a Freemason and promoted into a job he couldn't do properly, much to the anger of colleagues +4
Powerful force: Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield, pictured a month after the disaster, was a Freemason and promoted into a job he couldn't do properly, much to the anger of colleagues
South Yorkshire Police today face questions over whether powerful 'secret society' the Freemasons held sway over the force at the time of Hillsborough.

Families of victims say that officers who were Masons were promoted into powerful positions despite being ill-equipped, including match commander David Duckenfield.

Duckenfield told the fresh inquests he had been a Freemason since 1975 and became head of his local lodge - a worshipful master - the year after the 1989 disaster.

The match commander, 46 in 1989, was handed control of F Division, which included policing games at Hillsborough, just three weeks before the tragedy.

He was forced to admit at the inquests that he had no experience of policing football, did not know Hillsborough and 'wasn't the best man for the job'.

At the time there was fury among colleagues who believed it was his freemasons membership that was behind his promotion.

When asked during the inquest of was influenced by his membership of the so-called 'secret society', but added: 'I would hope not.'

His predecessor Brian Mole, now dead, had also been a member of the same lodge, jurors were told.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), as part of its overall investigation into alleged criminality and misconduct, has examined concerns from the Hillsborough families over Freemason membership.

The United Grand Lodge of England has provided information including historical attendance records of meetings.
Police chief who lied over his actions that led to the fatal Hillsborough crush 'is on holiday' it emerges he may face criminal charges
Thousands of fans were still pouring into the stadium even AFTER the first victim was crushed to death at 2.57
'Justice finally': Hillsborough disaster inquest verdict met with relief and sadness as Wayne Rooney and Jamie Carragher lead tributes to the 96 Liverpool fans who were 'unlawfully killed'
This has enabled investigators to assess whether there may be some correlation with individuals involved in decision-making around Hillsborough, according to the IPCC.

The hearings in Warrington also heard evidence from a police constable who said he had heard 'a substantial meeting' of senior officers, including allegedly Mr Duckenfield, took place in the days after the disaster.

The officer said it was rumoured that most of the officers were Masons and it was said they were trying to blame Superintendent Roger Marshall for asking for the exit gate at Leppings Lane to be opened.

Conspiracy? One PC said that senior police officers, who were also Masons, met in the aftermath of the disaster and decided to blame another officer +4
Conspiracy? One PC said that senior police officers, who were also Masons, met in the aftermath of the disaster and decided to blame another officer

Coroner Sir John Goldring later warned the jury that there was 'not a shred of evidence' that such a meeting ever took place or that all of those named were Freemasons. He advised them to put the 'gossip and hearsay' to one side.

Is Goldring a Freemason???????]

Giving evidence, Mr Duckenfield said he was unaware if his boss, Chief Constable Peter Wright, was also a Freemason.

He said: 'I can't say whether he was or he wasn't. What I am saying is within my knowledge in the whole of the Sheffield/Yorkshire area, and in my lodge, he certainly wasn't a Freemason, and it wasn't customary in those days, because a situation had arisen where it was unfashionable, or some people thought unacceptable, to be a Freemason in a senior police position.'

Freemasonry is one of the world's oldest and largest non-religious, non-political, fraternal and charitable organisations, according to the United Grand Lodge of England's website.

It adds that 'it teaches self-knowledge through participation in a progression of ceremonies' and 'is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values'.

David Duckenfield, who is believed to be in Portugal, said Liverpool supporters had smashed through a closed gate before kick-off, causing the crush, when in fact he had ordered it to be left open to ease congestion.

It was only 26 years later, having retired on a gold-plated police pension, that he was forced to admit this was the 'direct cause' of the tragedy and that he had lied to save his own skin.

Today the inquest found that his decision had caused or contributed to their deaths - and also meant that they were all unlawfully killed.

In 2000 the families of the dead brought a private manslaughter prosecution against Duckenfield, but a jury failed to reach a verdict. The Crown Prosecution Service could again choose to prosecute him after today's verdicts.

Today, as the damning verdicts were read out, the match commander was not at the hearing and neighbours said the retired golf fan was last seen at home on the edge of the New Forest over the weekend.

[TonyGosling]

Coroner Goldring

"I have ruled that the questions he is asked should be short and nonadversarial."

RECOMMENDATION

Not a single statement of any police officer in the Police Box Control room during the crucial time between 3pm and 4pm is truthful. All the police officers inside the Police Control Box who gave evidence at Warrington, have committed acts of perjury at the Warrington Inquests and should all be arrested forthwith.

[TonyGosling]

THE FREEMASONS YEARBOOK FOR THE PROVINCE OF DERBYSHIRE 1986-87
109TH EDITION

BRETWALDA LODGE No. 6930
Held at the Masonic Hall, Dore, on the third Monday in each month, except August, at 6.30 p.m. Warrant dated 2nd November, 1949 Consecration 25th March, 1950 Installation Meeting-October
Appointed 21st October, 1985
Worshipful Master - P. R Mann
LP. Master - H. R Mann, (P.M)
Senior Warden. - A R Shenton
Junior Warden - D. G. Duckenfield
Chaplain - J. S. Lloyd, (P.M)
Treasurer - B. W. Hubbard, (P.M)
Secretary - J. P. Coe
D.C. - E. E. Brookes, (P.M)
Senior Deacon - B. James
Junior Deacon - T. Pass
Charity Steward - G. Pulford, (P.M)
Almoner - G. H. Swain, (P.M)
A.D.C. - D. M Bevan, (P.M)
Org. - G. P. Kaye
A Sec. - W. C. Amos
L.G. - M J. Perrett
Stewards - C. R Pass
J. S. Cole
J. Evans
J. Hubbard
P. F. Jackson
M Hunter
Tyler - G. Delaney

No. of Members- 57
Addresses
Worshipful Master: 'Branksome', 3 Durmast Grove, Sheffield S6 6ET. Tel: Sheffield 330905
Secretary: 71 St Albans Way, Wickersley, Rotherham, S66 OAD. Tel: Rotherham 546663.
Charity Steward: 8 Barnfield Road, Sheffield S10 5TE.
BRETWALDA LODGE No. 6930 (contd.)
Subscribing Members
Amos, W. C., Bevan, D. M, Bramall, G. M, Brookes, E. C., Buckland, J. W. Burgin, F., Cashmore, M C. Coe, J. P., Cole, J. S., Cole, J. W., Darley, J. S., Dawson, G. A., Delaney, G., Duckenfield, D. G. Evans, A C., Evans, J., Exton, R A, Gill,D. M. A., Grattan, L. P. Green, R., Hubbard, B. W., Hubbard, J., Huckerby, J. Hunter, M., Jackson, P. F., James, B., Kaye, G., Kaye, G. P. Kellett, D., Kelly, R W., Key, B. M., Levick, R H., Lloyd, J. S., Mann, H. R Mann, P. R., Masser, T. K., Maybury, S. C., McKenzie, F., Moffatt, R., Pass, C. R., Pass, T., Parkin, J. A., Perrett, M J., Potter, C., Pulford, G., Russell, R., Shenton, A R., Slater, H., Slocombe, C. M., Swain, G. H., Vivialn, R. J. W., Ward, K.T., Waterhouse, C. R., Waterhouse, R., Weston, J. W., Wood, K., Wright, J. H.




BUXTON CHAPTER OF
SOVEREIGN PRINCES ROSE CROIX OF HEREDOM No. 262
Held at the Masonic Hall, George Street, Buxton, on the fourth Friday in March, May (Enthronement), July and October Warrant dated 3rd February, 1927 Annual Festival-May

Appointed 24th May, 1985
M.W.S - T. W. Yates
Prelate - Rev. W. J. Hill, 30 degree
First Gen. - J. A. Aldous
Second Gen. - J. W. Buckland
Treas. - A. Jodrell, 30 degree
Recorder - P. Hawkins, 32 degree
D.C. - H. E. Chatburn, 32 degree
Marshal - A. C. Youett
Raphael - J. E. Bryan
Almoner - W. J. Lingard, 32 degree
Herald - J. Vernon
Capt. Of G. - J. G. Parnell
Org. - J. B. Hughes
A.D.C. - S. A. Stuart, 31 degree
Stwds - W. H. Fletcher
F. A. West
H. Cottrill
F. Milner
O. Guard - G. F. Gilman, 17 degree
No. of Members-49
Correspondent: 41 Dovedale Crescent, Buxton, SK17 9BH. Tel (0298) 5543

BUXTON CHAPTER OF SOVEREIGN PRINCES ROSE CROIX OF HEREDOM No. 262 (contd.)
LIST OF MEMBERS
Aldous, J. A., Appleyard, J. C., Batterham, J., Biggs, S. V., Brookes, E. C., Bryan, J. E., Buckland, J. W., Chatburn, H. E., Clayton, J. J., Cottrill, H., Davis, G. G. J., Duckenfield, D. G., Eyre, W. M., Fletcher, W. D., Fletcher, W. H., Gibson, N. G., Gilby, W. C., Harry, J. D., Hawkins, P., Hill, W. J., Hotter, G. A., Howe, P., Hudson, J. R., Hughes, J. B., Jodrell, A., Leech, D., Lingard, W. J., Lloyd, J. S., McKenzie, F., Middleton, A., Milner, F., Newton, J., Parnell, J. G., Presley, R S., Read, A. J., Shaw, R., Stocks, S. F., Stuart. R I., Stuart. S. A., Thompson, N. A., Vernon, D., Vernon, J., Wade, W. O., Ward, J. H., West, F. A., Wharton, L F., Wi1son, C. C., Yates, T. W. Youett, A. C.

[TonyGosling]

PETER OBORNE: Corruption, 27 years of lies and why Hillsborough has destroyed my faith in the police
By PETER OBORNE FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 00:27, 27 April 2016 | UPDATED: 03:03, 27 April 2016
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3560552/PETER-OBORNE-Corrupt ion-27-years-lies-Hillsborough-destroyed-faith-police.html

Ashamed as I am to say it, I believed the police, and not the great city of Liverpool, when the Hillsborough tragedy took place 27 years ago.

I believed the police when they said that the fans were drunk. I believed the police when they said the fans had broken through the exit gate. When they said it was all the fault of the Liverpool fans, I instinctively accepted the police version of events.

This was not because I am or was then against Liverpool, or the city’s magnificent fans and unique footballing heritage.

Fans in the top tier of the away end at Hillsborough help those in the crowded lower tier as the crush unfolds
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Fans in the top tier of the away end at Hillsborough help those in the crowded lower tier as the crush unfolds

But I had been brought up to support the police. I was taught they were the cornerstone of society. I could see they often did an heroic job.

Just four years before Hillsborough, in 1985, PC Keith Blakelock had been murdered in cold blood on a North London estate. In 1984, WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead outside the Libyan embassy.

Endure

Like many others, I calculated that patriotic and brave people like these risked their lives so that the rest of us could live our lives in safety. It was unthinkable to my generation that men and women of such moral stature should lie, cheat and fabricate evidence.

Yet we now know that is exactly what some of our policemen did.

So first and foremost, yesterday’s verdict is a vindication for the families and the friends of dead fans — and an entire community — who for an outrageous three decades have been obliged to endure their grief in the face of smear and innuendo.

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At last for them there is justice.

Second, Britain as a society needs to learn some big lessons.

They start with the troubling recognition that some of the assumptions made by decent people about the police force were wrong.

We were right to think that many brave and upright men and women served in the force, helping to maintain the fabric of society. But a significant element of the police were not like that. They were above the law.

We are not talking here about a few bad apples. The South Yorkshire police lied, and lied and lied again over Hillsborough.

Then another police force, the West Midlands, were asked to investigate. Instead of getting to the truth, they actually joined the cover-up.

This points to a deep structural problem. So what went wrong?

Chaos: Hillsborough's Leppings Lane end at 15.07 - when many behind the goal were already dead or fatally injured
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Chaos: Hillsborough's Leppings Lane end at 15.07 - when many behind the goal were already dead or fatally injured

Inside Hillsborough Stadium as Gate C was opened on fatal day
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The police were a vital arm of the British state in the Eighties as bloody battles were fought against criminals, football hooligans and trade unionists.

Mrs Thatcher needed the police to take on the miners. She was, and is, an icon to Tories like myself.

It pains me to write this, but we should ask ourselves whether she awarded the police a measure of impunity in return.

It is disturbing, too, to learn that investigators are now examining whether behind-the-scenes influence by Freemasons was a factor in the Hillsborough debacle and the alleged cover-up that followed.

Powerful force: Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield, pictured a month after the disaster, was a Freemason and promoted into a job he couldn't do properly
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Powerful force: Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield, pictured a month after the disaster, was a Freemason and promoted into a job he couldn't do properly

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has examined records of meetings of Masons from the late Eighties.

The Match commander, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, told the inquests he had been a Freemason since 1975 and, a year after the Hillsborough disaster, rose to become head of his local lodge, a Worshipful Master.

Duckenfield had been given responsibility for the policing of matches at Hillsborough just weeks before that fateful day, on the recommendation of the then-Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Anderson, who had also been a Freemason up until 1985. You may make of all that what you will.

Let’s remember, too, that five years before Hillsborough was the ‘Battle of Orgreave’ — when hundreds of officers clashed with protesters during the 1984 miners’ strike.

At the time it was natural for middle-of-the-road conservative people to believe the police portrayal of those miners as thugs. Evidence has emerged that the South Yorkshire Police may, in the post-battle investigations, have perverted the course of justice by lying through their teeth about the threat of violence offered to them. Three years ago, the South Yorkshire force referred itself to the IPCC over events at Orgreave coking plant, near Rotherham, 31 years ago.

But after analysing hundreds of documents, the IPCC decided not to launch an investigation, even though it found evidence of misconduct, and accusations that miners were beaten unconscious by officers.

It was not only in South Yorkshire, of course, that corruption has been an ugly stain on the police.

A series of special Mail investigations were sparked two years ago by the news that thousands of documents had been mysteriously shredded which related to a police investigation into endemic corruption in detective squads in South London in the Eighties and Nineties.

This paper also examined in depth the failure of the Metropolitan police to investigate properly the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993 by a gang of racist white youths.

It was feared that widespread corruption among detectives may well have thwarted justice in that terrible case.

The impression one draws is that something went very badly wrong with the police back then — and it is idle to think that the service has turned its back entirely on the rotten culture that manifested itself after Hillsborough.

Rotten

Too many officers are still at it today. Consider the Hillsborough inquest itself.

It lasted twice as long as it should have done because the South Yorkshire police went on telling the same lies that they told nearly 30 years ago.

Of course the overwhelming majority of today’s police officers are honest and dedicated public servants.

Rush: The scene outside Gate C at the Leppings Lane turnstiles at Hillsborough, where an estimated 2,000 fans were allowed into already packed parts of the stadium
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Rush: The scene outside Gate C at the Leppings Lane turnstiles at Hillsborough, where an estimated 2,000 fans were allowed into already packed parts of the stadium

Revealing timeline shows how Hillsborough disaster happened
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However — and I know that this will sound very shocking — those who spend time in the British courts are horribly aware that a small but disturbing minority of police officers continue to fabricate, misrepresent and cover up evidence in order to secure convictions in court. When the police concerned get caught out, they are very rarely prosecuted.

Sometimes these fabrications concern the most powerful members of society, as happened to the Tory Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell, who was forced to resign from his office four years ago over the so-called ‘Plebgate’ incident at the Downing Street gates.

A police officer was later jailed after lying that he had witnessed Mitchell call another officer a ‘pleb’. Far more often it is the weakest and most vulnerable who are the victims, and have their life ruined as a result.

Let’s return to Hillsborough.

Andy Burnham — shadow home secretary, who has campaigned magnificently for justice to come out — has called Hillsborough ‘the biggest miscarriage of justice of our times’. I believe he is right.

Unflinching

Home Secretary Theresa May (who also deserves congratulations for her role in making sure justice has been done) must now do two things.

First, she must disband the disgraced South Yorkshire police. This is not only because of their role in the original tragedy means it would be better to erase this infamous organisation from the historical record. The conduct of some of their officers in the inquest over the past two years shows that they are unreformed.

Police admit 'catastrophically' bungling Hillsborough
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Even more important, I believe that Britain would now benefit from a Royal Commission into policing.

The issue of police corruption must be placed under an unflinching gaze.

For we as a nation need a police force which does not cheat, lie and invent evidence that destroys the lives and reputations of innocent people.

This means a new culture and a new set of rules, including a much stronger Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Officers caught forging evidence should no longer be gently allowed to retire: they should be sent to jail. All decent police officers — the great majority — should welcome this. Only the corrupt will resist.

In this age of renewed terror, we need a diligent, resourceful and honest police force more than ever.

The Hillsborough families have gained justice — now is the moment for society to learn the lessons of this long, drawn-out tragedy.

[TonyGosling]

Election day a good day to bury bad news

South Yorkshire chief constable's resignation-call 'unlawful'
9 June 2017
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-40219092

From the section Sheffield & South Yorkshire These are external links and will open in a new window Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Messenger Share this with Email Share
David CromptonImage copyrightPA
Image caption
David Crompton was suspended and then resigned before he was due to retire after 30 years of service
A police commissioner's decision to suspend the chief constable of South Yorkshire and then ask him to resign was unlawful, the High Court has ruled.
David Crompton was suspended following the Hillsborough inquests in April 2016 with Dr Alan Billings citing an erosion of public trust in the force.
Dr Billings said he would be "seeking permission to appeal against the outcome".
The Hillsborough victims' families also reacted angrily to the ruling.
Live updates and more stories from Yorkshire
But, Mr Crompton said the court's decision "speaks for itself".
"I welcome today's decision by the court to overturn the Police and Crime Commissioner's decisions first to suspend me, and then to require me to resign," he said.
"The court's judgment concludes Dr Billings acted unlawfully from start to finish, branding his course of decision making 'irrational', 'perverse', 'unreasonable', 'misconceived' and 'wholly disproportionate'."
Inquest findings
He added the judgment repeated "almost all of the arguments made originally by Sir Thomas Winsor (Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary) nearly a year ago in his advice under the statutory process to the Police and Crime Commissioner".
The pair had clashed in the wake of the April 2016 inquest findings into the deaths of 96 people in the Hillsborough stadium disaster in 1989.
Reacting angrily to the ruling Margaret Aspinall of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, whose son James died in the disaster, defended Dr Billings saying he had "made the correct decision" in calling for Mr Crompton to resign.
"Nothing at all surprises me what goes on, what annoys me is that this senior officer can win this case, yet we, the [Hillsborough families], went for judicial reviews and lost them," she said in a statement.
In a statement the day after the Hillsborough inquests concluded, Mr Crompton alluded to "other contributory factors" to blame for the deaths of 96 football fans.
However, the judgement said: "It would be impossible for any fair-minded observer to conclude that the Chief Constable was challenging the conclusion of the jury that Liverpool football supporters had been blameless.
"The only contributory factors identified by the jury had been the conduct of parties unconnected to Liverpool supporters."
Expensive process
Sitting in London, Lady Justice Sharp and Mr Justice Garnham ruled in Mr Crompton's favour.
Dr Billings said the decision had "potentially serious implications for the governance arrangements for the police service generally and not just in South Yorkshire".
He added he would consult with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) before proceeding as he recognised the process had been expensive.
The office of the PCC told the BBC it had incurred legal costs of £72,000 in the process. An additional £85,000 in legal fees has also been invoiced to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for the Judicial Review.
Timeline
South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable David CromptonImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Jan 2012: David Crompton appointed chief constable of South Yorkshire Police following retirement of Med Hughes (October 2011)
Sept 2012: Apologises on behalf of South Yorkshire Police after Hillsborough Independent Panel finds the force "sought to deflect responsibility" to Liverpool fans
Feb 2013: Apologises after an email emerges in which he accuses Hillsborough campaigners of lying
Mar 2016: Announces plans to retire in November
Apr 2016: Suspended following Hillsborough inquest
May 2016: Dismissal proceedings begin
Sept 2016: Made to resign by PCC
9 June 2017: High Court declare decision unlawful

[TonyGosling]

Hillsborough trial: David Duckenfield jury FAILS to reach manslaughter verdicts
95 Liverpool fans died in the Hillsborough disaster at the FA Cup semi-final on April 15 1989
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-hillsborough-trial-davi d-duckenfield-14186958

The jury in the trial of Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield has failed to reach a verdict to a charge of manslaughter.

Duckenfield, 74, denied the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans who died in the disaster at the FA Cup semi-final on April 15, 1989.

On Monday the judge Sir Peter Openshaw told the jury he would accept a majority verdict on the charge after five and a half days of deliberations.

But today, on the 8th day of deliberations, the jury foreman told the court they could not reach a verdict and have been discharged and thanked for their service.

The prosecution has told the court that the CPS will pursue a re-trial.

Graham Mackrell, ex Sheffield Wednesday secretary, was found guilty of the charge of breaching his safety duty with 10 jurors out of 12 saying he was guilty.

He is reported to have looked 'shell-shocked' as the verdict was delivered.


A jury failed to reach a verdict on the manslaughter charge against Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

There were tears outside court after the jury announced their verdicts (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
Mr Duckenfield did not give evidence during the 10-week trial.

His MP Christopher Chope questioned whether it is "reasonable" for his constituent to face a retrial.

He said in the House of Commons: "Further to the Point of Order raised by my honourable friend in relation to Hillsborough, can I put on record that the gentleman in question is one of my constituents?

"This will be the second occasion on which he has faced a long trial which has not resulted in any verdict and has resulted in the jury being discharged, and I hope that will be taken into account if anybody thinks that it's reasonable that such a person should be put through a third trial."

Sue Hemming, Director of Legal Services said: “We have discussed the matter carefully with counsel and I can confirm the CPS will seek a retrial against Mr Duckenfield for manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 men, women and children.

“I recognise that these developments will be difficult for the families affected by the Hillsborough disaster.

"We have remained in regular contact with them throughout these proceedings, and spoke with those present in Preston and Liverpool before informing the court of our decision."


Hillsborough victims families, Louise Brookes (middle) and Christine Burke (right), outside Preston Crown court (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
The Hillsborough disaster took place as the ground hosted an FA Cup semi-final between the Reds and Nottingham Forest.

Ninety-six men, women and children died in the fatal crush on the Leppings Lane terrace.


A statement from Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool City and Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester told of the pain relatives of the victims are still going through.

“Today, we know the families will be feeling a mixture of frustration and vindication," it read.

“We have been at their side over the years and seen the agony that the English judicial system has inflicted upon them.

“There are many things we would like to say but can’t due to the fact that this is an ongoing process. But we can at least say that, today, at long last, someone has been held to account for what happened — a vindication of the long fought battle by families and campaigners for truth and justice.


Hillsborough victims families, Jenni Hicks (left) and Christine Burke (right) (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
“After 30 years fighting for the truth, through the Hillsborough Independent Panel, the inquests and now this trial, the families have waited long enough.

“We welcome the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service to request a retrial so that the issues of culpability can finally be resolved.

“Today is another difficult day for the families, survivors and the wider community on that long road to justice. We will continue to support them every step of the way and will never give up the fight for justice for the 96.”

The court heard the police match commander ordered the opening of a stadium exit gate to relieve congestion outside the turnstiles allocated to Reds supporters.

Around 2,000 then entered, many heading down a tunnel and into the pens where the crush took place.


Duckenfield denied manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 Liverpool supporters at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
The decision to prosecute came after a lengthy campaign by the Hillsborough families for the circumstances surrounding the tragedy - and the alleged cover-up - to be reinvestigated.

The CPS announced its decision to press charges in 2017 saying in a statement: "We will allege that David Duckenfield’s failures to discharge his personal responsibility were extraordinarily bad and contributed substantially to the deaths."

The jury of six men and six women were sent out at 10.51am on March 25 after a 10-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

Judge Sir Peter Openshaw told them: "You are under no pressure of time whatsoever. You can and should take just as long as you want or need."


Hillsborough football ground (Image: Hillsborough Inquests)
Under the law at the time, there can be no prosecution for the 96th victim, Tony Bland, as he died more than a year and a day after the disaster.

Retired chief superintendent Duckenfield was standing trial alongside former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell, who denied failing to discharge his duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The jury decided today Mackrell, 69, failed to take care as safety officer particularly in respect of ensuring turnstiles were of such number to admit fans at a rate where there were no unduly large crowds waiting for admission.

The court has heard there were seven turnstiles for the 10,100 Liverpool fans with standing tickets for the match against Nottingham Forest.

Duckenfield, who was promoted to the role less than three weeks before the disaster, gave the order to open exit gates to the ground after crowds built up outside.

More than 2,000 fans entered the ground after the gate was opened, with many making their way down the tunnel to the central pens of the terrace, where the fatal crush happened.

The judge previously told the jury to be "dispassionate" and "objective" when considering its verdicts.

He said: "The death of 96 spectators, many of whom were very young, is a profound human tragedy attended by much sadness and anger which for many is as raw today as it was 30 years ago.

"Understandably, and probably inevitably, there have been times during the trial of heightened emotion and distress of which you will have been keenly aware.


Former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell has been found guilty (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
"But, as you go about your duty to strive to deliver verdicts according to the evidence you must try and put aside your emotions and sympathies and to decide the case after an objective and dispassionate review of the evidence."

Speaking after the hearing, a Liverpool FC spokesman said: "Liverpool Football Club would like to reiterate our support and admiration for the Hillsborough families, survivors and campaigners in light of today’s verdicts at Preston Crown Court.

"While forthcoming legal proceedings restrict comment on the outcome of the trial, we acknowledge the guilty verdict for Graham Mackrell and can empathise with the frustration shared by everyone affected by the Hillsborough tragedy that the outcome was not definitive.

"The continuing journey that has brought the families and survivors to today has resulted in a number of inquiries into the events of April 15, 1989 including the Taylor Report, the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report and in 2016 the Hillsborough Inquest.

"It is clear the conclusions reached by these reports remain, including the established fact that the behaviour of Liverpool supporters at Hillsborough was not a contributory factor in the disaster. They were wholly exonerated.

"Furthermore, the journey not only to reach today’s stage and continue, is testament to the perseverance and determination of all involved in the ongoing campaign for justice which is now into its 30th year.

"Our thoughts are with all those who continue to be affected by the Hillsborough tragedy and the 96 Liverpool supporters who went to watch their team and never came home.'

[TonyGosling]

DISGUSTING, PROVOCATIVE AND INSULTING CANCELLATION OF ANNUAL MEMORIAL
https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2019-04-05/hillsborough-memorial-even t-cancelled-after-hung-jury-in-trial/

Hillsborough memorial event cancelled after match commander trial
The outdoor commemoration at St George’s Hall has been cancelled.

An event to mark 30 years since the Hillsborough disaster has been cancelled after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the trial of the match commander.

David Duckenfield denied the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans.

The trial at Preston Crown Court ended on Wednesday after jurors were unable to agree.

Mr Duckenfield's lawyers have said they will oppose an application from prosecutors for a retrial.

Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield
Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield. Credit: PA
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said the decision was taken to avoid any legal risk.

I have made the difficult decision to cancel the outdoor commemoration event we were planning to mark the 30th anniversary of the disaster.

The risk of the event inadvertently influencing any future decisions which are made regarding ongoing legal proceedings is a risk which I do not want the city to take.

– LIVERPOOL MAYOR JOE ANDERSON
The public memorial service at the Anglican Cathedral will go ahead as planned.
The public memorial service at the Anglican Cathedral will go ahead as planned. Credit: ITV News
An outdoor programme of speeches and performances was planned for the square in front of St George's Hall.

Instead, the city will mark the anniversary with a minute's silence at 3:06 pm on 15 April.

The public memorial service at the Anglican Cathedral will go ahead as planned.

Mr Anderson said: “Despite this being such an important milestone in the history of Liverpool, we understand how sensitive the current environment is surrounding the case. As such would urge everyone to exercise caution and refrain from making any comments that could jeopardise future proceedings and refrain from making comments on social media."

Last updated Fri 5 Apr 2019

[TonyGosling]

Hillsborough families attack ‘ludicrous’ acquittals of police
Two former officers and solicitor accused of perverting course of justice have no case to answer, judge rules
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/may/26/hillsborough-trial-of -former-south-yorkshire-police-officers-collapses

Retired South Yorkshire police officers Donald Denton (left) and Alan Foster
Retired South Yorkshire officers Donald Denton (left) and Alan Foster were charged with perverting the course of justice by amending officers’ statements after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Photograph: PA
David Conn
Wed 26 May 2021 14.49 BST

Bereaved Hillsborough disaster families have condemned the “ludicrous” decision to acquit two former South Yorkshire police officers and the force’s former solicitor on charges of perverting the course of justice, bringing to a close their 32-year fight for justice.

Peter Metcalf, 72, a former solicitor for the force, and the then Ch Supt Donald Denton, 83, and DCI Alan Foster, 74, had been accused of changing 68 officers’ statements to withhold important evidence and criticisms of the police operation, and “mask the failings” of the force.

However, the judge at the trial at Salford’s Lowry theatre, Mr Justice William Davis, ruled there was no legal case to answer because the altered police statements were prepared for Lord Justice Taylor’s public inquiry into the disaster.

Hillsborough: why has the trial collapsed and what happens next?
Read more
That was not a statutory public inquiry, at which evidence is given on oath, but an “administrative exercise”, Davis told the jury, so it was not a “course of public justice” that could be perverted.

Speaking outside court on Wednesday, Deanna Matthews, the niece of victim Brian Matthews, said the situation was “ludicrous” and the law was “not fit for purpose” and needed to change.

Of six men charged with offences over Hillsborough in 2017, the police officer in command, Ch Supt David Duckenfield, was acquitted of manslaughter in 2019, Sir Norman Bettison had charges dropped in 2018, and Metcalf, Denton and Foster have now been acquitted. The only conviction has been against Graham Mackrell, then secretary of Sheffield Wednesday, who was found guilty of a single safety offence, and fined £6,500.

Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son, James, was killed in the disaster and who was the last chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, called the outcome a “cover-up of the cover-up of the cover-up”, adding: “We’ve been put through a 32-year legal nightmare looking for the truth and accountability. Now they’re saying the police were allowed to change statements and cover up at Taylor. The legal system in this country really has to change.”

Later Aspinall held a joint press conference with the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and the Liverpool metro mayor, Steve Rotheram, in front of the Hillsborough memorial at Liverpool’s Anfield football ground. They called for the urgent introduction of a law to impose on all public authorities a “duty of candour” in public inquiries and other investigatory processes.

“The Hillsborough law is needed to close the loophole that has allowed this to happen,” Burnham said. “There needs to be a duty of candour in law for public officials, there needs to be parity of legal funding at inquests between the state and bereaved families. Until we correct that, inquests will be an uneven playing field.”

Burnham and Rotheram condemned comments made by Metcalf’s barrister, Jonathan Goldberg QC, on BBC Radio 5 live after the trial collapsed, in which he claimed the behaviour of Liverpool supporters was “perfectly appalling on the day, causing a riot that led to the gate having to be opened”.

Bereaved family members were outraged at the comments. Burnham pointed out that Goldberg was contradicting the findings of the 2016 inquests jury, and said he would “consider whether further action can be taken with professional regulatory bodies to hold the individual to account for comments that are patently untrue”.

The crush on the Leppings Lane terrace of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough football ground at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989 killed 96 men, women and children. Families fought a 21-year campaign against the first 1991 inquest verdict of accidental death, which followed the South Yorkshire police campaign to avoid responsibility for the disaster and allege that Liverpool supporters’ misbehaviour was to blame.

That inquest was finally quashed in 2012. In 2016, the jury at new inquests determined that the 96 victims were unlawfully killed due to gross negligence by Duckenfield and rejected the police allegations, determining that no behaviour of Liverpool supporters had contributed to the disaster.

Retired solicitor Peter Metcalf.
Retired solicitor Peter Metcalf. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA
The trial’s collapse will lead to searching questions for the Crown Prosecution Service, whose decision-makers were urged by families’ lawyers to charge a wider conspiracy by South Yorkshire police, not focus narrowly on changed statements.

Many families have been scathing about the CPS’s conduct of the prosecutions and were disillusioned after Duckenfield’s acquittal. Few regularly attended the trial in Salford, or at St George’s Hall in Liverpool where it was being broadcast live.

Sue Hemming, the CPS director of legal services, said the outcome of the trial “will have been surprising to many”. In a statement she said: “That a publicly funded authority can lawfully withhold information from a public inquiry charged with finding out why 96 people died at a football match, in order to ensure that it never happened again – or that a solicitor can advise such a withholding, without sanction of any sort, may be a matter which should be subject to scrutiny.”