Pressure mounts for prosecution of police officers responsible for Hillsborough cover-up

 
14 September 2012

Pressure is mounting today for the prosecution of police officers responsible for the Hillsborough tragedy cover-up.

South Yorkshire Police, which still employs 195 officers who were on duty at the ground that day, said the force was considering referring itself to the police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The under-fire force said it was "reviewing a wide variety of matters raised in the report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel with a view to making a referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission".

It added that it was looking in detail at the material released by the panel and its report before making a decision on whether any specific matters should be referred to the IPCC.

As the force considered its next step, the former MP revealed as one of the sources behind The Sun's controversial coverage of the tragedy said he was "deeply and sincerely sorry".

But ex-Sheffield MP Sir Irvine Patnick insisted he had been given "wholly inaccurate" information by officers.

The damning Hillsborough Independent Panel report revealed a cover-up took place to shift the blame on to the victims and that 41 of the 96 lives lost at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium on April 15, 1989, could have been saved.

The panel found 164 police statements were altered, 116 of them to remove or alter "unfavourable" comments about the policing of the match and the unfolding disaster.

Sir Irvine said he was "appalled" at the extent of the cover-up surrounding the disaster which saw Liverpool supporters die in a crush at the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

Deborah Glass, deputy chairman of the IPCC, said: "The detailed and rigorous report of the Hillsborough panel into the tragic deaths of 96 people raises extremely serious and troubling issues for the police.

"Clearly there is a huge amount of information contained within the report and supporting documentation that needs to be analysed and digested.

"We are reviewing the panel's report and we are aware that South Yorkshire Police are also carrying out a detailed assessment of the report with a view to making a referral to the IPCC.

"We also await the decision by the Attorney General in respect of the inquests, and will liaise with the relevant parties to identify what should be investigated, and by whom."

Yesterday Sir Norman Bettison, the most senior serving police officer who was involved at the time, said he had "nothing to hide" but sparked fury by saying Reds fans' behaviour made the policing job "harder than it needed to be".

The former South Yorkshire officer, who is now Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, was an off-duty inspector at the game.

His comment appeared to contradict the report which said fans played no part in the unfolding disaster.

Margaret Aspinall, chairwoman of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, who lost her son James, 18, in the tragedy, called for Sir Norman's immediate resignation.

"He is still saying the fans made the job more difficult for the police. He ought to be ashamed of himself," she said.

Sir Norman was also involved in an internal inquiry held by the force in its aftermath.

He said: "Fans' behaviour, to the extent that it was relevant at all, made the job of the police, in the crush outside Leppings Lane turnstiles, harder than it needed to be.

"But it didn't cause the disaster any more than the sunny day that encouraged people to linger outside the stadium as kick-off approached."

He said by the time he was involved in the South Yorkshire Police internal inquiry, West Midlands Police had taken over the formal investigation into the tragedy.

"I never altered a statement nor asked for one to be altered," Sir Norman added.

"Two South Yorkshire Police teams have been conflated in the minds of some commentators."

He said a second team of officers, which did not involve him, was created by South Yorkshire Police to "work with solicitors who were representing South Yorkshire Police at the Taylor Inquiry and to vet statements from its officers that were intended to be presented to the inquiry".

West Yorkshire Police Authority said last night it would "review" the panel's report and the West Midlands authority said it has asked its Chief Constable, Chris Sims, to "update" it on the matter.

West Yorkshire Police Authority chairman, Cllr Mark Burns-Williamson, said: "Anyone involved in any wrongdoing should be prepared to face the consequences of their actions."

The families of the football supporters killed 23 years ago said the report had vindicated them, and have pledged to carry on their fight by pursuing criminal prosecutions against those who they said should "hang their heads in shame".

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