In 2012, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), then the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), launched an independent investigation into police actions following the Hillsborough disaster. The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing for the then 96 Liverpool fans who lost their lives and concluded that the fans played no role in causing the disaster. Mr Cutlack told the inquests the annual inspections of the ground were missed opportunities to reassess the capacity. The purpose of an investigation is to establish the facts behind a complaint, conduct matter, or DSI matter and reach conclusions. Even with the deaths of so many people who had been in their care, and with their distraught relatives and friends still strung all over Sheffield desperate for news, many police officers went for a drink when their shifts officially ended. t was a year into these inquests, and 26 years since David Duckenfield, as a South Yorkshire police chief superintendent, took command of the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, that he finally, devastatingly. As with many survivors who gave evidence a generation on, and the families who have endured an unimaginable ordeal, their honesty and humanity shone through. Ninety-six football fans who died as a result of a crush in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster were unlawfully killed, the inquests have concluded. However, if the tunnel had been closed, fans would have been diverted towards the relatively emptier side pens, the inquests were told. He criticised Mr Eason for failing to assess the situation and prioritising a casualty with a broken leg. Department within a police force that deals with complaints and conduct matters. No contingency plans were made for the sudden arrival of a large number of fans and attempts to close the stadium's perimeter gates, before fans reached the turnstiles, were made too late. Overcrowding at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough (Image: David Giles/PA Wire) "The changes include all police forces in England and Wales signing up to a charter agreeing to acknowledge when mistakes have been made and not seek to defend the indefensible; a strengthened ethical policy which makes candour a key theme; and new guidance for specialist officers supporting families . Pete Weatherby QC, for 22 bereaved families, questioned Peter Metcalf, the solicitor for South Yorkshire police who implemented this process, and Ch Supt Donald Denton, who headed the police amendment operation. For example: language used and the manner or tone of communications. The other two victims were Lee Nicol, 14, who was pronounced dead two days later, and Tony Bland, then 18, who was kept on life support for four years, before he died in 1993. Duckenfield told the inquests that he did inherit disciplinary problems from Mole, that he believed this was a reason why Mole was moved, and that he himself was from the forces disciplinarian wing. Those recommendations have been adopted by families and campaigners as a Hillsborough law they have called on the government to introduce. Once the bodies were finally cleared, it turned out to be a child. Survivors recalled their own helpless entrapment, the agonising suffocation, the eye-popping panic, the terrible screams for help, the delayed reaction of South Yorkshire police officers on the other side of the metal perimeter fence. While Mole used to be driven all over Sheffield before a big match to check on traffic flows, then, closer to the 3pm kickoff, patrol around the ground, Duckenfield said he still could not remember at all what he did in more than two hours between concluding his briefing of officers and arriving in the control box at 2pm. Eventually, qualified medical staff told them she was dead. Focuses on putting an issue right and preventing it from happening again by encouraging those involved to reflect on their actions and learn. Mr Page said he initially thought the ambulance response was "speedy and efficient" but said the inquest hearings had led him to revise that view. Her barrister, Stephen Simblet, told Addis the Traynors were distressed that police officers were eating fried chicken and chips in the gymnasium, and they now associated the smell with their grief and trauma. Yet half an hour before that, when Jackson still believed as he said in his evidence that fans had stormed the gate, he had ordered Ch Supt Terence Addis, head of CID, to set up an investigation into the deaths. Read about our approach to external linking. They went in through gate C when invited by police, and were crushed in the central pens barely 10 minutes later. Its disgusting and action needs to be taken [by match police and stewards] to stop people doing that, he said. Wright actually said of Duckenfield in that meeting that unfamiliarity as a match commander could be an advantage, because an inexperienced officer would be more on their mettle. The mistake was I . Video, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. Accounts on plain paper could be and infamously were amended before going to the official public inquiry by Lord Justice Taylor. There was a failure to get through to the police control room. Joness November 2017 report, commissioned by Theresa May when she was home secretary, made 25 recommendations to ensure the pain and suffering of the Hillsborough families is not repeated, including a charter for bereaved families, a duty of candour for police officers, and that bereaved families should have public funding for legal representation at inquests where public bodies are represented. The dominance of Wright, a decorated career police officer who died in 2011, loomed over the catastrophe. Dr Jasmeet Soar, a resuscitation specialist, said "earlier intervention before cardiac arrest" could have saved the life of James Aspinall, son of Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall. However, the IPCCs review found support for the allegation that three senior South Yorkshire officers had made up an untrue account exaggerating the degree of violence from miners, to justify the polices own actions that day. The story that the disaster should be blamed on the supporters was, meanwhile, being spread throughout that night by South Yorkshire police officers in their Niagara sports and social club, including the most lurid tales that would be published by the Sun, under the headline The Truth, during the week. 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. Then there was the unspeakably heartless identification process in the football club gymnasium, after which CID officers immediately grilled families about how much they and their dead loved ones had had to drink. Police leaders have apologised for "profound failures" during and after the Hillsborough disaster as they announce an updated code of ethics requiring officers to show professionalism and. Yet when they went to Taylor, the police did make that case, insisting they bore no responsibility and claiming as the cause supporters arriving late, drunk and unmanageable. Find out more about what happens during an IOPC investigation and the different possible outcomes. Survivors of the lethal crush bore tearful witness to the vice-like squeeze, the cracking of ribs, arms and legs, faces losing colour, the vomiting and emptying of bowels and bladders, relatives and friends dying next to them, the still barely believable piles of dead bodies at the front of the pens. McKay said it was because memories came back in patches. He turned up to command the semi-final, he admitted, knowing very little about Hillsboroughs safety history: about the crushes at the 1981 and 1988 semi-finals, or that the approach to the Leppings Lane end was a natural geographical bottleneck to which Mole had carefully managed supporters entry. A breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour that would justify at least a written warning. Dr Stefan Popper, the coroner, who approved the arrangements, ordered blood samples to be taken from all victims and tested for alcohol even the children, including Jon-Paul Gilhooley, the youngest, aged 10. Wright had opened a fact-finding meeting at 9am on 16 April 1989, the day after the disaster, by immediately exonerating his force. They then told him stories against the fans: they were not inside the ground by 2.30pm because there were hordes of people drinking; they were not normal. It noted that a road closure in the area had exacerbated the situation. The Hillsborough disaster occurred during a football match in 1989, oversaw by police chief superintendent David Duckenfield. He did not study relevant paperwork, including the forces major incident procedure, and signed off the operational plan two days after taking over, before he had even visited the ground. 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. 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. Addis decided all the identification should take place in one location, so he ordered the bodies of 12 people who had been taken to hospital and certified dead to be taken back to Hillsborough where the other 82 bodies were being kept. After the incident, Hillsborough was not chosen to host an FA Cup semi-final for six years. Frequently asked question - Investigation roles, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy 2022-25, Information for police officers and staff, Super-complaints and working with other policing oversight bodies, Our service - complaints, compliments and how to challenge our decision, Police complaints: A quick guide for young people, Annual deaths during or following police contact statistics, Police complaints: A quick guide for young people, Investigation summaries and learning recommendations, Report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, hillsboroughcommunications@policeconduct.gov.uk, IOPC statement following today's ruling at the Denton, Foster and Metcalf trial, IOPC investigation was provided for appeal to free man from life sentence, Met officer charged with assault relating to Elephant and Castle arrest, Former West Midlands Police officer charged with misconduct in public office, alleged amendments to the accounts of SYP officers who were present at Hillsborough, the actions of police officers after the disaster, including the taking of blood alcohol levels and the undertaking of police national computer checks on the dead and injured, former South Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent Donald Denton, former South Yorkshire Police Detective Chief Inspector Alan Foster, Peter Metcalf, the solicitor acting for South Yorkshire Police in 1989, police involvement in the planning and preparation for the game, police management of fans outside the Leppings Lane terrace and their entry into the stadium, the early response of the police to the disaster, police liaison with families of the deceased and the injured in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. The plain paper accounts were amended before they went to the Taylor inquiry. Of the 96 people who died, 30 were still outside the turnstiles at 2.52pm. Prof John Ashton, a public health expert who was at the match as a Liverpool supporter, told the inquests he led the assessment of casualties behind the Leppings Lane end because no-one else was taking charge. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Many officers who made such allegations against supporters in their original 1989 accounts, which the force notoriously vetted and altered, maintained that stance under scathing challenge by the families barristers. 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. At these inquests, he admitted he had given no thought to where the people would go if he opened the gate. The risks were known and "the crush in 1989 was foreseeable", it added. Deals with someones inability or failure to perform to a satisfactory level, but without breaching the Standards of Professional Behaviour. Inside the ground, "there was no means of counting" the number of fans entering individual pens. Lord Justice Taylor, in his 1990 report into the disaster, had concluded the failure to close the tunnel was "a blunder of the first magnitude". The document is known as the Wain report, because Ch Supt Terry Wain compiled it. Y esterday I proposed the budget for police and victim services for the coming financial year (April 2023 - March2024) . 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. The police have a difficult, vital job, to keep society safe. However here, where they failed, their use of the word animals documented an inability to see a group of citizens even as people. When it reviewed the stadium in May 1988, the OWP said the stadium had "no significant defects". Metcalf, in the end, put a line through that narrative, and it did not go to Taylor. Three defendants were charged with perverting the course of justice: After the conclusion of the prosecutions case, the judge heard submissions by the defence teams. The following timeline shows the key dates from our involvement up to the trial: A second investigation was ordered by the Home Secretary as a result of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report. The jury heard he had at least three minutes to "consider the consequences" of opening the gates. Later that day, the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and her press secretary, Bernard Ingham, visited Hillsborough. A record is made of a complaint, giving it formal status as a complaint under the Police Reform Act 2002. Trevor was said by witnesses to have been running between the girls, as desperate attempts were made to revive them, shouting and pleading: Not both of them: theyre all Ive got.. 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. David . 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. 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. The Police Response . Peter Hayes, deputy chief constable in 1989, and Stuart Anderson, assistant chief constable in charge of personnel, came as old men to these inquests, and denied Mole was moved because of the prank, saying it was for career development. Duckenfield admitted he had not familiarised himself in any detail with the grounds layout or capacities of its different sections. 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. He imagined he would be a bully, and look for scapegoats. Then Greaney asked again: Mr Duckenfield, you know what was in your mind. Several officers defended this process. Police collect evidence at 4.42pm, shortly after the Hillsborough disaster. South Yorkshire police have admitted to "serious errors and mistakes" that led to the unlawful killing of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster. Duckenfield was described as an officer of wide experience. A complaint or recordable conduct matter that doesnt need to be referred to the IOPC, but where the seriousness or circumstances justifies referral. Hundreds more fans were injured and countless people who survived have been left traumatised by the disaster. The Hillsborough Disaster occurred in an historical media framework that already labelled Liverpool as rebellious and anarchistic. More than 50,000 men, women and children travelled to the match at Hillsborough Stadium, the home ground of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. We strive to keep our key stakeholders informed of any progress and key milestones with the investigations, and we do this by issuing regular updates. Ninety-six fans died in the Hillsborough disaster, but the inquests heard their deaths could have been prevented if authorities had not made a number of mistakes. Jurors found the then match commander, Ch Supt David Duckenfield, was. It admitted no fault whatsoever. No police officer was ever disciplined or held accountable, and there was no reform. On the recommendation of South Yorkshire Police, the club introduced the penning system to "prevent free movement of supporters". On Friday, lawyers for the families confirmed that two police forces, South Yorkshire and West Midlands, had agreed the settlement following a civil claim for misfeasance in a public office on. Two inquests, millions of pounds, 27 years, 96 dead, one verdict: that police failures led to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, and police lies tried to cover it up. Media reports that followed focused on allegations that Liverpool fans drunken behaviour was the cause of the disaster and hindered the emergency response. It revealed that senior officers and the forces own solicitor privately recognised there had been some excessive police violence, and perjury in the 1985 trial, but never acknowledged it publicly, and settled 39 miners civil claims, paying 425,000 without admitting liability. The number of fans passing through each turnstile was three times higher than at other turnstiles in the stadium, an HSE investigation found in 1990. Four months after the Hillsborough disaster, in August 1989, Lord Justice Peter Taylor, who was heading the government's inquiry, released an interim report that condemned police actions as the primary cause of the disaster. We took the power back | Julie Fallon, Hillsborough inquest timeline: the long wait for justice, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Liverpool supporters try to escape the crush on 15 April 1989. These include every force having signed a charter for bereaved families in 2021 that requires police organisations to acknowledge mistakes with openness and candour after a public tragedy, and not seek to defend the indefensible, as South Yorkshire police were accused of doing after the 1989 disaster. Leads and manages the development of the police service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Addis set up the gymnasium, he revealed, not just as a place of identification, but as the CID incident room the centre for his investigation to try to identify the cause of the incident. The inquests verdict, when it finally arrived, represented the most thorough vindication imaginable for the families of the dead and an equally damning indictment of South Yorkshire Police. Alan Green, commentator for BBC Radio 2, broadcast an unconfirmed report of a broken-down door at 3.40pm, then at 4.30pm he reported that police had said a gate was forced the police story of misbehaviour settling on the initial public consciousness. He agreed it would have alleviated "the anxiety and frustration" of supporters trying to get into the ground. 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. In a press briefing, Marsh and Hewitt acknowledged current challenges facing police following a series of recent scandals, and said the public and media would hold police to account for adherence to the new charter and ethical code. An investigation carried out by the police under the direction and control of the IOPC. 1. By 2.48pm, the crowd at the turnstiles had compacted into a dangerous crush, and Marshall radioed the control room, asking if the large exit gate C could be opened. This decision - and the design of the approach to the stand - combined to make the congestion worse. Police had also closed some turnstiles to keep Liverpool and Nottingham Forest fans apart. STATEMENTS made by cops after the Hillsborough disaster were edited to remove accounts which said they were short-staffed and "like headless chicken . The 10,100 fans with standing tickets were expected to enter the ground through just seven turnstiles and by 14.30, fewer than half were inside. If it had been career development, there was no explanation as to why it had to be so sudden or so close to the semi-final, the forces biggest operation of the year, nor why Mole was said by several witnesses, including Duckenfield, to have been disappointed. Far from condemning the stories, the minutes of the meeting record Wright congratulating Middup for the case he had been making. Four years later, on 15 April 1989, 24,000 Liverpool supporters set off in high spirits for the semi-final in Sheffield, their safety dependent on the same police force. Supt Roger Marshall, who was stationed at the Leppings Lane entrance, told the jury of his "profound regret" at not requesting a delayed kick-off. The ending of an ongoing investigation into a complaint, conduct matter or DSI matter. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. The average is calculated using the individual results of the forces in that most similar force group. Police officers and supporters help one of the injured. Others fell silent, already unconscious". Sports minister Stuart Andrew pledged to examine what input . As a result of our investigation, a criminal trial started on 19 April 2021 and concluded on 26 May 2021. IOPC guidance to the police service and police authorities on the handling of complaints. A matter where no complaint has been received, but where there is an indication that a person serving with the police may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings. 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 Salmon process takes its name from Lord Justice Salmon who first set out the Salmon principles in 1966. A person is adversely affected if he or she suffers any form of loss or damage, distress or inconvenience, if he or she is put in danger or is otherwise unduly put at risk of being adversely affected. IOPC 2020 This is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. 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. At 2.52pm, Duckenfield ordered it open. Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died as a result of the events that unfolded at the FA Cup Semi-Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989. After the Hillsborough disaster decision, a final reckoning awaits . Kick-off should have been delayed which would have given time to relieve the pressure at the turnstiles, he said. 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. The original investigation by West Midlands Police also concluded "failure to anticipate" that fans entering through exit Gate C and down the tunnel would lead to a sustained crush had a "direct bearing on the disaster". Sykes confirmed, almost casually, that the police were upset, shocked, and having a drink, and talking about their experiences. BBC News takes a look at some of the key decisions and failures. I didnt ever detect any smell of fried food, said the head of CID. Twenty-five were fathers; one, 38-year-old Inger Shah, was a single mother with two teenagers: altogether, 58 children lost a parent . Hillsborough disaster trial collapses as judge rules no case to answer Two retired South Yorkshire Police officers and the force's former solicitor are acquitted of perverting the course of justice. He moved on to discuss how the story of drunken, marauding fans would be got out, saying the force could not do it too publicly because it had to respond professionally. Mr Raab said "we must learn the lessons" of the Hillsborough disaster, adding: "The independent public advocate goes some way to making . In 1993, he told a House of Commons committee, "I regret Hillsborough. The home secretary, Suella Braverman, said the governments response had been delayed by the need to avoid the risk of prejudice during any criminal proceedings which related to Hillsborough; the last trial collapsed in May 2021. The jury decided the emergency services response had been delayed by the police's own delay in declaring a major incident and said the ambulance service failed to ascertain the nature of the problems on the Leppings Lane terrace. The year and a day rule was abolished by legislation in 1996, but David Duckenfield was being prosecuted under the law as it applied at the time of the disaster. We have put together some frequently asked questions about this process, to help understand why we are applying it to the Hillsborough investigation, what it involves and how it affects the Hillsborough investigations' report. You can request a review/appeal if youre not satisfied with how your complaint has been handled. The Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP), set up to oversee the release of documents relating to the disaster, concluded there was "clear evidence in the build-up to the match, both inside and outside the stadium, that turnstiles serving the Leppings Lane terrace could not process the required number of fans in time for the kick-off.". The disaster at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium was investigated by West Midlands Police. In 1989, Hillsborough was deemed to be one of most advanced stadiums in the UK. 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. Under the terms of the ground's safety certificate, an Officer Working Party including the council, police, fire service and the club, inspected the ground each year. For the time I was with Sarah, Sarah was with someone who cared. A picture emerged in glimpses of a drinking culture in the South Yorkshire police, with most stations at the time having a bar. But I would like to take this opportunity to say to them that I did my very best for Sarah in the circumstances. Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has now confirmed a law will be introduced "as soon as possible" establishing an independent public advocate to support survivors and the bereaved impacted by tragedies like Hillsborough, Grenfell and the Manchester bombings. He was speaking at the door of his . He said any delay was a decision for the match commander. And yet the culture of delay, denial and defensiveness by the police and other public and corporate bodies continues after state-related deaths. Complainants have a right of appeal following a supervised investigation (unless it is an investigation into a direction and control matter). The IPCC said the evidence raises doubts about the ethical standards and complicity of officers high up in [South Yorkshire police]. The Hillsborough gymnasium was designated as the place to house bodies in a fatal emergency. They included a heartbreakingly large number of young people 37 were teenagers because to watch an FA Cup semi-final then cost only 6. Weatherby concentrated on just a few of the 164 statements, showing that all references to the Freeman tactic (closing the tunnel to the central pens) were deleted. The South Yorkshire police officer in command of the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough, at which 96 people were killed, showed a "lack of leadership" and "poor decision-making," the court. Lawyers said the cover-up had caused added psychiatric injury to the survivors and the families of those who . Relatives and survivors recalled indifference, even hostility, in the unfolding horror although the families lawyers thanked individual officers who did their valiant best to help victims. At the time, Sheffield Wednesday FC blamed Tottenham fans for "arriving late" and "rushing to their places", crushing those in front. What follows is a brief analysis of the responses of those most involved on that fateful day. The horror in pens three and four was described by traumatised survivors and police officers over subsequent months of graphic, terrible evidence. They carried Sarah on an advertising hoarding to the gymnasium, but there were no ambulances there either, so they laid her on the pitch and performed CPR again.
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