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Hillsborough police chief charged with Manslaughter, five others also charged

C

CCS

Banned
Hillsborough police chief charged with Manslaughter, five others also charged

Former Ch Supt David Duckenfield faces a manslaughter charge and five others will be prosecuted over the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

Mr Duckenfield was the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) match commander at the FA Cup semi-final when 96 Liverpool fans were fatally injured in a crush. He faces the charge of manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 fans. Former SYP Ch Insp Norman Bettison will be charged over alleged lies in the aftermath. Victims' relatives have been informed.

Last year, new inquests into the disaster at the Liverpool v Nottingham Forest match in Sheffield concluded the fans had been unlawfully killed.

For legal reasons, Mr Duckenfield cannot be charged over the death of the 96th victim Tony Bland, as he died fours years after the disaster, prosecutors said. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) must apply to the High Court to lift an order imposed after he was prosecuted privately in 1999, which must be removed before he can be charged.
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Good.

The full list of individuals facing charges are:

Mr Duckenfield faces manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 men, women and children.

Sir Norman faces four charges of misconduct in a public office relating to alleged lies he told in the aftermath about the culpability of fans

Graham Mackrell, former Sheffield Wednesday Club Secretary, will be accused of breaching Health and Safety and Safety at Sports Ground legislation

Peter Metcalf, who was a solicitor acting for SYP, is charged with perverting the course of Justice, relating to changes to witness statements

Former Ch Supt Donald Denton is accused of perverting the course of justice

Former Det Ch Insp Alan Foster is charged with perverting the course of justice
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D

dc89

Member
It's been a long time coming.
Although it will never bring their loved ones back I am sure they are thankful of this ruling and in someway I hope when all is said and done it brings them some peace.
 
G

GrizzleBoy

Banned
Sevenfold said:
About fucking time..
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Came to post these exact words.

The cynic in me wonders if this would be happening now if not for the climate of the public thirsting for officials being g held accountable after the fire, as Hillsborough and Grenfel have been getting mentioned side by side for a little while.
 
R

RangerX

Banned
Massive respect for the families who lost loved ones and who fought so long and hard for these prosecutions. I hope they get justice.
 
S

Shy

Member
Good lock those cunts up.

I'd love for more people up the food chain to be also banged up. But that won't happen. Unfortunately.
 
C

CCS

Banned
List of charges (added to OP):

The full list of individuals facing charges are:

Mr Duckenfield faces manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 men, women and children.

Sir Norman faces four charges of misconduct in a public office relating to alleged lies he told in the aftermath about the culpability of fans

Graham Mackrell, former Sheffield Wednesday Club Secretary, will be accused of breaching Health and Safety and Safety at Sports Ground legislation

Peter Metcalf, who was a solicitor acting for SYP, is charged with perverting the course of Justice, relating to changes to witness statements

Former Ch Supt Donald Denton is accused of perverting the course of justice

Former Det Ch Insp Alan Foster is charged with perverting the course of justice
Click to expand...
 
K

King_Moc

Banned
Was worried Duckenfield would get away with this. He quit his job weeks before the findings came out do that he wouldn't lose his pension. Scum.
 
oneils

oneils

Member
Anyone have more details on what the chief is alleged to have done that is negligent? The article is light on details.
 
K

King_Moc

Banned
oneils said:
Anyone have more details on what the chief is alleged to have done that is negligent? The article is light on details.
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He held overall responsibility for the safety at the ground, which was a complete shitshow on this occasion. They funnelled all of the fans for an entire stand through one entrance, with no way out, into a caged pen that was the size of a quarter of the stand.
 
T

TimmmV

Member
Good

Hopefully this finally stops fuckwits singing that "always the victims" song at Anfield too (doubt it, but can hope)
 
B

BunnyBear

Member
Oh wow, I'm legitimately surprised. I have a morbid fascination with Hillsborough and I think I've consumed hundreds of hours of coverage of that day and the aftermath. It was a horrific tragedy, and the suffering experienced that day is impossible to fathom.

Justice may yet be done.
 
S

sammex

Member
Please be careful what you post in here.

Do not give suspects chance to claim they can't have a fair trial

Strict guidelines are now in force over what anyone - from news organisations to individuals using Twitter and Facebook - can write about the suspects.

WHAT HAS CHANGED?

In legal terms the proceedings against those charged are now “active”.

Under contempt laws this means nothing should be published that could cause a substantial risk of seriously prejudicing the legal process.

In essence, a process is now underway that could see those charged face a jury trial - and nothing should be done that could influence prospective jurors that someone is guilty.

This means social media posts - whether a profile has 10 or 10,000 followers - should not include comments that implies any suspect is guilty of the offence they have been accused of.

Doing so could provide a basis for a defendant to argue they can not get a fair hearing.

....

While you could not write, for instance, that it was the correct decision to charge a suspect and why, you could post that you disagree over the decision not to charge someone and explain your reasoning.
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B

BunnyBear

Member
oneils said:
Anyone have more details on what the chief is alleged to have done that is negligent? The article is light on details.
Click to expand...

Negligence is his greatest crime. Thousands of people were trying to enter the ground before kickoff and had congregated around one particular entrance. That entrance consisted of two seperate rows of turnstiles known as Gate A and Gate B. Getting people through the turnstiles was taking a long time, and police believed a dangerous situation could erupt outside the ground if they didn't alleviate pressure on the turnstiles. So they opened a separate side entrance known as Gate C. Hundreds of people spilled into the ground through Gate C and ran towards the tunnel leading underneath the stand and into the lower standing terraces. These sections were known as "pens" because the terraces was surrounded by high wire fencing to keep fans from entering the pitch. The stampeding crowd pushed forward, forcing the people at the front of the pens to be crushed against the wire fencing.

Chief Duckenfield was overseeing the crowd from a nearby vantage point that looked directly out over the pens. Not only did he give the order to open Gate C, he is accused of acting slowly and not taking steps to alleviate the crush as it became clear there was a problem unfolding. He is also accused of contributing to a cover-up of the police's actions in the wake of the tragedy.

(In some ways I have sympathy for Duckenfield, because he was inexperienced when it came to overseeing major football games and should never have been placed in charge of such an important game when the crowd was always going to pose problems. But his actions that day were indisputably negligent, and his conduct in the days and weeks after the tragedy are indefensible).
 
S

sammex

Member
Proteus said:
This is kind of insane and impossible to enforce.
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It's not about being charged personally with contempt so much as it leads to a possible basis for the defendant to call the hearing unfair.

Lawyers representing those accused of wrongdoing could argue that, because so much has been said, heard and written about their clients’ involvement in Hillsborough or its aftermath, it would be impossible for them to get a fair trial.
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S

Steve.1981

Unconfirmed Member
Just saw this on the news. About time. About bloody time.

This is really good news for the families, and all the innocent people who had to live through the horror of that day. Hopefully justice will finally be done.
 
T

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
Did a report on this incident for my master's program. Was a very interesting case to me. Loved learning about it.

I can't believe they're being charged now.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
I have lived in America longer than I have lived in Britain, and this story was old when I left Britain.


Also I ride a Penny Farthing and don't believe in suffrage.
 
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