He also admitted at the inquests that even as the event was descending into horror and death, he had infamously lied, telling Graham Kelly, then secretary of the Football Association, that Liverpool fans were to blame, for gaining unauthorised entry through a large exit gate. The jury heard he had at least three minutes to "consider the consequences" of opening the gates. It shows the urgent and compelling need for enactment of a Hillsborough law to stop families having to fight for truth, justice and accountability against the might of the state., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 'We are determined to learn': police chiefs apologise for Hillsborough failures video, Hillsborough campaigners criticise proposal for new victims advocate role, Lack of government response to Hillsborough report intolerable, FAcondemns abhorrent chants about Hillsborough at Liverpool games, Hillsborough: pathology review set up to assess medical failures of first inquiry, BarStandards Board clears barrister over Hillsborough remarks, Twoex-prime ministers join chorus of calls for Hillsborough law, Liverpool team pay tribute to 97th Hillsborough victim who died this week, Liverpool fans death ruled as 97th of Hillsborough disaster, South Yorkshire police were accused of doing, 2017 report into the Hillsborough failures, criticised the governments delay as intolerable. Greaves and his friend Fred Maddox were police officers, but they were off duty that day. His decision, later overturned, was based on the flawed assumption that all the victims were dead or fatally injured by this point. The report will aim to answer the many questions families, complainants, survivors, and other key stakeholders have asked about police. Those at the Niagara club included Duckenfield, Murray and other senior officers. An investigation may only be discontinued if it meets one or more of the grounds for discontinuance set out in law. Jackson and Anderson still stood by their belief that Duckenfield could handle the semi-final, given experienced officers and the operational plan in place from the previous year when, under Moles command, an identical match between the same two clubs was played at Hillsborough. Wright told his officers: You did a good job.. On this occasions, the tunnel was closed and fans redirected to the side pens. Later that day, the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and her press secretary, Bernard Ingham, visited Hillsborough. Andy Marsh, the chief executive of the College of Policing, the standards-setting body for the police in England and Wales, said a new code of ethics would also be issued for consultation in the next few weeks, that would incorporate a code of practice requiring chief police officers to ensure openness and candour including in inquests and public inquiries. Finally, after 27 years of horror, heartbreak and struggle, the families have seen a jury deliver the verdict they, their loved ones, and those who suffered and survived but found themselves targets of South Yorkshire polices ferocious campaign required. Then Greaney asked again: Mr Duckenfield, you know what was in your mind. Mr Whitmore said while the ambulance service response was delayed, volunteers from St John Ambulance "behaved better" than their counterparts by starting to help victims immediately. Some officers did write in their pocketbooks. They were crushed on the terraces at the FA Cup semi-final as their team started play on the pitch. A lifelong Liverpool FC fan, Mr Devine was 22 at the time of the disaster. Leaders from the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs' Council have apologised to the Hillsborough families as part of a national police response to a 2017 report into the. Irene McGlone recalled her husband, Alan, 24, skipping with their daughters, Amy, then five, and two-year-old Claire, before driving to Hillsborough with three friends including Joseph Clark, 29, another father of two, who also died. Not only the Thatcher government but also the Labour party under Neil Kinnock waged war on the leaders of the City Council (Derek Hatton . The legacy issues relate to the costs of paying for mistakes that were made by South Yorkshire police in the past. The inquest jury blamed police failures before and on the day of the tragedy. Ninety-six football fans who died as a result of a crush in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster were unlawfully killed, the inquests have concluded. As we near the 34-year anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, the national body for police chief constables issues a long-awaited apology for the police failures that led to the unlawful killing of 97 people and for the "pain and suffering" experienced by the bereaved families. An investigation carried out by IOPC staff. They included a heartbreakingly large number of young people 37 were teenagers because to watch an FA Cup semi-final then cost only 6. Arrowsmith recalled they would not believe her when she said the brothers had had only two pints before the match. January 22, 2016. Roger Marshall in the crowd outside the stadium. Denton actually admitted that removing the evidence about previous tunnel closures impeded Taylors inquiry, which was kept in the dark. Paul Greaney QC, representing the Police Federation who on behalf of the rank and file principally sought to emphasise senior officers lack of leadership took his turn on Duckenfields sixth day. Several parents testified that they were told they could not hold or kiss their dead children because they were the property of the coroner. Chief ambulance officer Albert Page said this was "too long" a delay. Police promise to admit mistakes after recommendations. Theresa Arrowsmith and John Traynor, whose two brothers, Kevin and Christopher Traynor, 16 and 26, both died, drove over from Liverpool with Chriss wife, Liz, identifying the men at 2.45am in the gymnasium. 2012 that a new police inquiry would be initiated to examine the possibility of charging agencies other than the police over the Hillsborough . Mr Cutlack told the inquests the annual inspections of the ground were missed opportunities to reassess the capacity. In 1993, he told a House of Commons committee, "I regret Hillsborough. It was booze that did it, Patnick, in a note, recorded Sykes telling him. Simblet, representing bereaved families, suggested to one of these officers, Alan Ramsden, that that was a surprising observation to have made about that place of disaster. Deputy Chief Constable Peter Hayes talked openly about his. Express. Duckenfield had arrived at the converted courtroom in Warrington with traces of his former authority, but over seven airless, agonisingly tense days in the witness box last March, he was steadily worn down, surrendering slowly into a crumpled heap. The "extraordinarily bad" failings of former police chief David Duckenfield caused the deaths of 96 Liverpool football fans, a court . Andrew Devine became the 97th victim of the Hillsborough disaster on 27 July 2021 - 32 years after he suffered life-changing injuries in the stadium crush. "Up to 1989, I'm going to put it bluntly - we got away with it," he said. He had not foreseen that people would naturally go down the tunnel to the central pens right in front of them. The 96th victim, Tony Bland, died almost four years after the disaster and, again, the Coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death. At the gymnasium, families were made to queue outside in the cold, clear night, then eventually brought in and told to look through Polaroid photographs of all those who died, not grouped by age or gender. These are now available to read below: Email: hillsboroughcommunications@policeconduct.gov.uk, Telephone: 01925 891714 / 01925 891733 / 01925 891739. Quarter 3 covers 1 April - 31 December The Police Response . One doctor said the crush, which caused death by compression asphyxia as people could not expand their chests to breathe in, was like a constrictor snake. He believed another ambulance would be along for Sarah but, as Greaves recalled, no ambulance came. Sykes denied that but admitted it was to gain evidence of whats been happening, one way or the other. Read about our approach to external linking. Giving evidence, Middup said he was only reporting to the media what police officers had told him. This means doing what is appropriate in the circumstances, taking into account the facts and the context in which the complaint has been raised, within the framework of legislation and guidance. The South Yorkshire and West Midlands forces. The plain paper accounts were amended before they went to the Taylor inquiry. Police Federation minutes noted that officers got considerably drunk that night while bereaved relatives were queueing outside to enter the hell of the gymnasium where police would interrogate them about drinking. Bosses admitted "policing got it badly wrong" in the aftermath of the 1989 stadium disaster At Hillsborough, ambulances lined up outside the ground, but only one South Yorkshire Metropolitan. The national body for police chief constables has issued an official apology for the police failures that led to the unlawful killing of 97 people in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, and for the pain and suffering experienced by the bereaved families for years afterwards. He said any delay was a decision for the match commander, he "failed to properly assess the situation", did not arrive until after all the injured had been removed, When he was passed a cylinder, it was empty, "earlier intervention before cardiac arrest, prioritising a casualty with a broken leg, blamed Tottenham fans for "arriving late" and "rushing to their places", missed opportunities to reassess the capacity, none of which led to a revised safety certificate, the crowd so tightly packed, he was "unable to clap his hands", later gave accounts of crushing within the Leppings Lane pens, denied knowledge of any crowd-related concerns, The risks were known and "the crush in 1989 was foreseeable", US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, Walkie Talkie architect Rafael Violy dies aged 78, Sonic boom heard as RAF Typhoon jets escort plane, Nelson's 97th-minute stunner gives Arsenal victory. Mr Duckenfield decided the game should go ahead, said he now accepted he should have delayed the kick-off, "profound regret" at not requesting a delayed kick-off, crowd safety should have been Mr Duckenfield's paramount consideration", "a problem for the police to deal with". Addis said the officers had been on duty for a long time, deserved a meal, and there was nowhere else they could have had it. This fiction, that fans without tickets had forced the gate, had already found its way to the BBC, reported as a version by John Motson, the television match commentator, at 3.13pm. Repeatedly played footage of the mass congestion that developed, Marshall admitted that it was a problem starting at 2.15pm, with thousands more people still arriving, and by 2.35pm, police had completely lost control. Hillsborough: Statements were altered to 'mask police failings' in dealing with tragedy, court told One of the accused was a solicitor who advised officers what alterations should be made to 'minimise the blame', the jury hears. Those recommendations have been adopted by families and campaigners as a Hillsborough law they have called on the government to introduce. The risks were known and "the crush in 1989 was foreseeable", it added. A breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour that would justify at least a written warning. The Hillsborough disaster of April 15 1989 led to the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans. An image of the gate that was opened to allow fans in. One was Russell Greaves, a detective constable who tried to revive Sarah Hicks, 19, on the pitch after she had been brought out of the crush next to her sister, Vicki, 15. A big man with a moustache, overcome with emotion, he then read something he had prepared, to a rapt courtroom. But, he said, the animalistic behaviour of fans would emerge. Please note, these were updated in March 2022. He admitted his focus before the match had been on dealing with misbehaviour, and he had not considered the need to protect people from overcrowding or crushing. Far from condemning the stories, the minutes of the meeting record Wright congratulating Middup for the case he had been making. Duckenfields own barrister, John Beggs QC, an advocate instructed by police forces nationwide, pressed the case most forcefully that supporters had misbehaved, persistently introducing as context into his questioning notorious previous episodes of football hooliganism, his manner often repellent to the families attending. He said he had talked to Det Supt Graham McKay on the way to the gymnasium, and from McKay, Addis said, I got most of the gist of what happened. Then when the disaster happened, they did everything citizens could expect of police officers, and of fellow human beings. He then took Patnick to several officers who told him that some supporters were pissed out of their minds, and that they were pissing on us and kicking and punching police during the rescue operation. He said: "I think the weak point was activating the major incident call and the assessment by the ambulance staff at the ground, who listened to what they were being told by the police that it was a pitch invasion.". In mitigation, he said he was working from a "deficient" set of police orders, which made no reference to closing the tunnel. Operation Resolves terms of reference include: Operation Resolve also looked at the actions of other organisations such as the ambulance service, Sheffield Wednesday Football Club (who hosted the game) and the local authority. Barry Devonside, who lost his 18-year-old son Chris at Hillsborough, told the news conference: "South Yorkshire Police and senior officers tried to deflect the blame onto the supporters. There were some police officers whose decency stood out. In 1981, at the semi-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Hillsborough, 38 fans were injured in a crush. Yet it had been the scene of dangerous crushes on a number of occasions. Sun editor and Liverpool FC fan Victoria Newton has revealed that her family were at the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, as she described her newspaper's response to it as "the biggest mistake in . The inquest jury said commanding officers should have ordered the closing of the central tunnel and their failure to do so caused, or contributed to, the fatal crush on the terrace. The families of those killed in the pens of Hillsboroughs Leppings Lane terrace, who have had to fight 27 years for justice and accountability, recalled the appalling way the South Yorkshire police treated them, even when breaking the news of loved ones deaths. Following a re-trial in 2019, he was found not guilty of 95 counts of gross negligence manslaughter. The majority of the 2,000 people allowed in through gate C went straight down the tunnel to the central pens, and gross overcrowding there caused the terrible crush. The horror in pens three and four was described by traumatised survivors and police officers over subsequent months of graphic, terrible evidence. A schoolboy from Merseyside who travelled to the game with four friends by train, one of . Twisted metal in the Leppings Lane stand at Hillsborough. He died, aged 55, from aspiration pneumonia, which was caused by a brain injury due to oxygen deprivation and crush . The area outside the Leppings Lane turnstiles was described as a "death trap, the number of turnstiles for the Leppings Lane terrace had proved "satisfactory", there was no means of counting" the number of fans entering individual pens, his failure to close the tunnel "was the direct cause of the deaths of 96 people", "froze" because of the pressure he was under. They were there with other police colleagues to support Liverpool football club. The club's engineer, Dr Eastwood, agreed "with hindsight" the total figure of 10,100 - which allowed for an additional 2,900 standing fans in the north-west corner stand - was "too high". Anderson said Mole needed experience outside Sheffield and the force was having problems policing Barnsley, which could be extremely hostile after the miners strike, in a climate of social disintegration and the impending closure of 14 pits. According to John Cutlack, an expert stadium engineer, the seeds of the 1989 disaster were sown 10 years previously when a safety certificate overestimated the capacity of the Leppings Lane standing area at 7,200. IOPC 2020 This is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. South Yorkshire Police wanted to "fight their corner" and blame Liverpool fans following the Hillsborough disaster, a court has heard. He said any delay was a decision for the match commander. Eventually, qualified medical staff told them she was dead. Yet survivors gave evidence of chaos at the Leppings Lane approach, no atmosphere of drunkenness or misbehaviour, and no meaningful police activity to make orderly queueing possible in that nasty space. Police forces have apologised 'profoundly' for their failings during the 1989 tragedy, which caused the deaths of 97 Liverpool supporters following a crush at a match against Nottingham Forest. It set the template for the South Yorkshire police stance: to deny any mistakes, and instead to virulently project blame on to the people who had paid to attend a football match and been plunged into hell.