Hillsborough disaster report live: victims and families ‘let down before, during and after the horrific events’

IOPC says 12 police officers would have faced disciplinary cases of gross misconduct relating to the Hillsborough disaster if they were still serving

• Full report: 12 police officers would have faced gross misconduct cases

• Timeline: decades seeking justice and change

The watchdog has found that 12 officers, all men, would have faced disciplinary cases of gross misconduct.

Ten were in the South Yorkshire force, including senior officers responsible for safety at Hillsborough.

South Yorkshire’s Chief Constable Peter Wright, in charge at the time of the disaster, would have faced six gross misconduct allegations, among them seeking to minimise police responsibility and deflecting blame on to the victims, Liverpool football club supporters.

Two other men were senior officers in West Midlands police, which had been appointed to investigate the South Yorkshire force after the disaster.

Mervyn Jones and Michael Foster would have faced allegations that they “failed to investigate effectively” and were “biased against supporters in favour of South Yorkshire police”.

The 97 people who were unlawfully killed, their families, survivors of the disaster and all those so deeply affected, have been repeatedly let down—before, during and after the horrific events of that day.

First by the deep complacency of South Yorkshire Police in its preparation for the match, followed by its fundamental failure to grip the disaster as it unfolded, and then through the force’s concerted efforts to deflect the blame onto the Liverpool supporters, which caused enormous distress to bereaved families and survivors for nearly four decades.

Continue reading…

Source: www.theguardian.com

Read full article