Six senior figures face court over Hillsborough in first criminal charges since tragedy 28 years ago
Charges announced 14 months after second inquest ruled 96 victims were unlawfully killed at FA Cup semi final in 1989
EX-POLICE chief David Duckenfield and five others will be prosecuted over Hillsborough — the first criminal charges over the tragedy 28 years ago.
The decision yesterday comes after a tireless campaign for justice by the families of 96 Liverpool fans unlawfully killed at an FA Cup semi final.
They overturned an initial inquest verdict of accidental death. A second inquest ruled unlawful killing.
Campaigner Trevor Hicks, who lost teen daughters in the 1989 disaster, praised the decision — saying: “It sends a message that nobody is above the law.”
Retired Chief Supt David Duckenfield, 72 — in charge on the day of the tragedy — will be charged with manslaughter.
But legal time limits mean he will not face court over 96th victim Tony Bland, who died of his injuries four years after the 1989 crush.
Also facing action is Sir Norman Bettison, 61 — ex-Chief Constable of Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police.
He is accused of four counts of misconduct in a public office.
He is said to have “untruthfully” described his role at Hillsborough as being just “peripheral” — and also to have lied by claiming he had never blamed Liverpool fans.
Victims’ families clapped Crown Prosecution Service officials on hearing the charging decisions against the pair plus two further cops, a force lawyer and a football official, at a meeting yesterday.
Why has David Duckenfield been charged with the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 victims?
David Duckenfield has been charged with the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 of the 96 disaster victims.
There will be no manslaughter prosecution over the death of the 96th casualty, Anthony Bland, as he died almost four years later, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
In a statement the CPS said: “We are unable to charge the manslaughter of Anthony Bland, the 96th casualty, as he died almost four years later.
“The law as it applied then provided that no person could be guilty of homicide where the death occurred more than a year and a day later than the date when the injuries were caused.”
CPS head of special crime Sue Hemming said prosecutors would argue Duckenfield’s failures were “extraordinarily bad”.
He is accused of failing to spot “potential confining points and hazards” before the fatal crush at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground during the April 15 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
Duckenfield is also alleged to have failed to properly monitor fans, relieve crowd pressure or prevent crushing, making him “grossly negligent”, the CPS said.
If convicted the Hillsborough match commander could face up to life in jail.
There was no answer at his Dorset home last night.
The charges were announced 14 months after a new inquest ruled the victims were unlawfully killed.
They follow a vast £56.5million police investigation, codenamed Operation Resolve, into the matchday failures and an IPCC probe into the alleged police cover-up.
Barry Devonside, whose son Christopher, 18, was among those killed, said after the meeting: “Everybody applauded when it was announced the most senior police officer on that particular day will have charges presented to him.”
The families’ relentless campaign for justice was praised in the Commons by PM Theresa May, who called it “absolutely exemplary”.
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She said: “We all welcome the fact that after so many years of waiting for the families and the justice campaign, charging decisions have been taken.
“It is an important step forward. I know from working closely with the families when I was Home Secretary that this will be a day of mixed emotions for them.”
Labour boss Jeremy Corbyn also saluted the families.
He said: “This inquiry only happened because of the incredible work done by the Hillsborough justice campaign.
“I think we should pay tribute to all of those that spent a great deal of time trying to ensure there was justice for those that died.”
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham praised the families’ “extraordinary determination and dignity”.
The charges against the six suspects were set out in a 3,780-word CPS statement released at 11.20am.
Sir Norman — knighted in 2006 and awarded a Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished service — is said to have committed his offences between 1998 and 2012.
Misconduct in a public office carries a maximum sentence of life.
The ex-cop, of Barnsley, said he was “disappointed to be charged”.
He added: “The charge is not in relation to my actions around the time of the disaster, but to comments I made years afterwards. I’ll vigorously defend my innocence.”
Two other ex-South Yorkshire Police cops, Chief Supt Donald Denton and former Det Chief Insp Alan Foster, each face two charges of perverting the course of justice.
The offence carries a maximum sentence of life on conviction.
Denton, 79, is said to have ordered changes to statements by junior cops before passing them to West Midlands Police, the independent force investigating the disaster.
Foster, 50, is said to have changed other officers’ statements — and to have ordered changes himself.
Ex-South Yorkshire Police lawyer Peter Metcalf, 67, is also accused of perverting the course of justice.
He is said to have given advice on changing cops’ statements and drafted an extra witness statement.
Ex-Sheffield Wednesday secretary Graham Mackrell, 67, is charged with two sports ground safety offences and a health and safety offence. He could face two years’ jail.
The defendants, except Duckenfield, will face Warrington Magistrates on August 9.
Duckenfield was privately prosecuted for manslaughter in 1999.
'Care' has to fail
MANSLAUGHTER by gross negligence is a type of involuntary manslaughter where harm has not been intended.
Crucially, the accused must owe a duty of care to the victims.
Cases often involve incidents where the accused’s actions or inaction allegedly cause death.
Optometrist Honey Rose was convicted last year for failing during a routine eye test to spot a brain condition that subsequently killed a girl of eight.
Duckenfield will be charged over 95 deaths.
He will not face charges over 96th victim Tony Bland, who died four years after Hillsborough, because of legal time limits that applied then.
But the case did not proceed and a judge ordered a “stay” on any further prosecution.
Prosecutors must now ask the High Court for that to be lifted so their case against him can proceed.
The Sun was the most prominent of a number of newspapers criticised over coverage of the disaster.
Under the headline The Truth, we wrongly blamed Liverpool fans for causing the tragedy.
Last year it was found that The Sun and other media had been deliberately misled by police.
The Sun has publicly apologised a number of times for its coverage.
David Duckenfield
He joined South Yorkshire Police as a cadet aged 16, then went on to become a constable in 1963 — rising steadily through the ranks, and becoming a sergeant aged just 25.
He was promoted to the rank of Chief Superintendant just 19 days before Hillsborough, and one of his first big jobs was to be in charge of policing during the match.
He had never been in command for a match at the ground before.
The officer ordered staff to open a gate into the stadium to ease overcrowding outside, allowing thousands of fans through a narrow tunnel into the pens — an action that’s alleged to have caused the deadly crush.
Days after the tragedy he was pictured showing then PM Margaret Thatcher around the scene.
During the inquest, he claimed to have suffered from depression and heavy drinking in the wake of the tragedy.
After the Taylor inquiry into the disaster in 1990 he was suspended on full pay.
He retired aged 55 in 1992 and reportedly received an index-linked pension said to be worth £23,000 a year.
Duckenfield, now 72, is married and lives in a bungalow in Dorset, where for many years he has pursued his passion for golf.
Sir Norman Bettison
Eleven years ago he received a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to policing.
Sir Norman, 61, resigned in October 2012 amid controversy about his role in the tragedy.
He wrote a book called Hillsborough Untold: Aftermath of a Disaster.
He set out his version of events, with the publishers describing his “journey from innocent bystander to a symbol of perceived criminal conspiracy”.
He said all proceeds from the book would be given to charity.
In 1993 — four years after the disaster — he was appointed assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police.
He left to become chief constable of the Merseyside force in 1998, a move vehemently opposed by a number of families of Hillsborough victims.
He became chief executive of Centrex, an organisation providing support and training to police forces and overseas law enforcement agencies in 2005.
Former Chief Superintendent Donald Denton
It is alleged he oversaw the process of amending witness statements, the CPS said.
The former South Yorkshire Police chief superintendent is charged with do- ing acts with in- tent to pervert the course of public justice re- lating to material changes to witness statements.
Former Detective Chief Inspector Alan Foster
Mr Foster is alleged to have changed other officers’ statements before passing them on to West Midlands Police, the independent force investigating the disaster.
He is also said to have ordered changes himself.
Mr Foster, of Harrogate, North Yorks, is charged with perverting justice.
Graham Henry Mackrell
He stands accused of breaching health and safety laws at Hillsborough.
Before joining Wednesday in 1986 he held the same role at Luton and Bournemouth and is a qualified accountant.
Mr Mackrell is currently a director of the League Managers Association.
Peter Metcalf
At the time of the tragedy he was with Hammond Suddards. The Law Society website says he is now registered with his own firm PC Metcalf.
He has been charged with perverting justice, relating to changes to witness statements.
MILESTONES IN THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE
April 15 1989 - Ninety-six football fans are fatally injured in a deadly crush as Liverpool play Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough ground.
April 1989 - Lord Justice Taylor is appointed to conduct a public inquiry into the disaster, with the West Midlands Police force later instructed to examine the role of their South Yorkshire counterparts.
August 4 1989 - An interim Taylor Report is published into the disaster after the submission of 3,776 written statements of evidence, 1,550 letters, 71 hours of video footage and the oral evidence of 174 witnesses.
January 1990 - The full Taylor Report finds the main reason for the disaster is the failure of police control and the decision to open Gate C without blocking the tunnel to central pens, calling them "blunders of the first magnitude".
April 18 1990 - South Yorkshire Coroner Dr Stefan Popper begins the first inquests in Sheffield. A 3.15pm cut-off point is imposed so inquiries into lack of emergency response ruled inadmissable.
March 28 1991 - After the longest inquest in British history to date, lasting 90 days, a verdict of accidental death is returned by a majority verdict of 9-2.
November 1991 - Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who was in charge of the police operation on the day of the disaster, resigns on a police pension due to ill health.
March 1993 - Families seek a judicial review of the inquest, which is initially dismissed, then appealed, then rejected by the Royal Courts of Justice, which rules the original inquests should stand.
May 1997 - New Labour government Home Secretary Jack Straw appoints Lord Justice Stuart-Smith to conduct a 'scrutiny of evidence', but he concludes new inquests are not warranted.
November 2006 - Anne Williams, whose son Kevin, 15, died in the disaster, submits her case to European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
March 2009 - The ECHR rules Mrs Williams's case should have been lodged earlier and is 'out of time'.
April 15 2009 - Minister Andy Burnham is barracked while speaking at the 20th anniversary memorial at Anfield.
He raises the matter at Cabinet and three months later the Home Office announces full disclosure of all information to be looked at by an Independent Panel.
September 12 2012 - A Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP) report is critical of blame put on to fans. Prime Minister David Cameron offers in the Commons a "profound apology" for the "double injustice".
October 12 2012 - The Independent Police Complaints Commission launches its biggest ever investigation into police in the UK, centred on officers' conduct over Hillsborough.
December 19 2012 - The High Court quashes the accidental death verdicts in the original inquests and orders new ones. The same day, Home Secretary Theresa May announces a new criminal probe to investigate "all of the people and organisations involved - before, on, and after" the disaster.
March 31 2014 - New inquests begin at Birchwood Park, Warrington. Sir John Goldring reads the names of the 96 in court before swearing in a jury of seven men and four women.
January 25 2016 - After 280 days, the new inquests reach the summing up by the coroner, Sir John Goldring.
He tells the jury they will answer questions in 14 sections about how the deaths were caused, including a possible verdict of unlawful killing based on whether Mr Duckenfield's acts or omissions amounted to gross negligence manslaughter.
April 26 2016 - The inquest jury delivers its verdict, and finds that the 96 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed.
It finds that blunders by South Yorkshire's police and ambulance services "caused or contributed to" their deaths, and exonerated Liverpool fans of wrongdoing. South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable David Crompton admitted the force got the policing of the match ''catastrophically wrong'' and ''unequivocally'' accepted the inquest jury's conclusions.
April 27 2016 - Mr Crompton is suspended in the wake of the Hillsborough inquest findings by South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings, who said he had no choice but to act "based on the erosion of public trust and confidence".
Dr Billings said there was "clearly a difference of perception" between Mr Crompton and the families of the victims in relation to questions being asked over whether the fans were to blame.
June 28 2017 - The Crown Prosecution Service announce its disaster charging decisions. Prosecutors have been examining files after investigators identified 23 criminal suspects over the disaster.