Hillsborough disaster

2023 - 1 - 31

Post cover — Image courtesy of "BBC News"

Hillsborough disaster: Families profoundly failed, say police (BBC News)

Ninety-seven Liverpool supporters died as a result of the April 1989 disaster at Sheffield's Hillsborough ground. The National Police Chiefs Council and the ...

"We are now into 2023. New guidance for family liaison officers will be issued, while guidance on disaster victim identification has also been revised. Policing got it badly wrong." Pete Weatherby KC, who represents many of the Hillsborough families, said "everyone knows" a Hillsborough Law would be a "game changer". A spokeswoman for the Hillsborough Law Now campaign said the group was "extremely disappointed" with the police response. But he said he "absolutely accepted that every week or month that has gone by has added to the pain of the families and not being able the whole process to conclusion". "The issue of candour is very clear within the charter for bereaved families and it will be incorporated explicitly in the review of the code of ethics." Bishop Jones had said the response of South Yorkshire Police to criticism over Hillsborough showed "institutional defensiveness" and recommended training for senior officers to ensure an "open and transparent approach" to inquiries. He also called for a charter for bereaved families, the right to publicly-funded legal representation and a "duty of candour" for police officers, amid a series of other recommendations. In his 117-page report, he said: "The experience of the Hillsborough families demonstrates the need for a substantial change in the culture of public bodies." Bishop Jones said "a change in attitude" was needed to ensure the "pain and suffering" of the families - who spent decades fighting for justice - was not repeated. Police forces have apologised for "profound failings" which have "continued to blight" relatives of victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

Police promise 'cultural change' almost 34 years on from ... (Morning Star Online)

POLICE chiefs have promised a “cultural change” as they apologised to families of Hillsborough victims today, almost 34 years on from the disaster.

With a regular donation to our monthly Fighting Fund, we can continue to thumb our noses at the fat cats and tell truth to power. The Morning Star is unique, as a lone socialist voice in a sea of corporate media. He said: “What we have really focused on is doing that which is really within our power. The issue of candour is very clear within the charter for bereaved families and it will be incorporated explicitly in the review of the code of ethics.” Policing got it badly wrong.” “We have long been campaigning for a Public Authority [Accountability] Bill, often referred to as the Hillsborough Law, which would create a legal duty of candour on public authorities and officials to tell the truth and proactively co-operate with official investigations and inquiries.”

Police chiefs apologise for Hillsborough failures (The Guardian)

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 ...

[Jones’s November 2017 report](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/656130/6_3860_HO_Hillsborough_Report_2017_FINAL_updated.pdf), 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. It is also encouraging that they are so supportive of ‘a duty of candour’ and legal representation for families bereaved after a public tragedy.” Jones was previously chair of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, whose [landmark 2012 report](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/sep/12/hillsborough-disaster-inquest-prosecutions-report) exposed the police negligence that caused the disaster, and the years of false evidence promoted by South Yorkshire police, that sought to blame Liverpool supporters for the disaster. 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 Labour committed at its conference in Liverpool last September to introduce the Hillsborough law reforms if it wins the next election. How long does it take to read a report, to come out with your findings or what you think should happen?” When leadership was most needed, the bereaved were often treated insensitively and the response lacked coordination and oversight.” In 2016 a new inquest jury found that the 97 victims of the crush on Hillsborough’s Leppings Lane terrace [had been unlawfully killed](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/26/hillsborough-inquests-jury-says-96-victims-were-unlawfully-killed) due to gross negligence manslaughter by the South Yorkshire police officer in command, Ch Supt David Duckenfield, and that there was no misbehaviour by Liverpool supporters that contributed to the disaster. “I welcome the NPCC’s recognition that the police ‘got it so wrong’ and subjected the families to ‘harrowing’ events. [criticised the government’s delay as “intolerable”](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jan/31/lack-government-response-hillsborough-report-intolerable) and welcomed the police response: Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died at Hillsborough, told the BBC: “We are now in 2023. [Hillsborough disaster](https://www.theguardian.com/football/hillsborough-disaster), and for the “pain and suffering” experienced by the bereaved families for years afterwards.

Police apologise for 'years of deflection and denial' over ... (The Independent)

Almost 34 years after the crush that caused the deaths of 97 football fans, they outlined plans to formalise a “duty of candour” on officers and stop “false ...

“They promised nearly 18 months ago we would have a response by the end of 2021 but the months and the years keep rolling by. It forms part of a larger pattern of failure and cover-up ... “What happened to the Hillsborough families was not an outlier. He told a press conference: “What we have really focused on is doing that which is really within our power. It is absolutely right that such unethical practice should not happen and should not be able to happen.” But campaigners said they were “extremely disappointed” with the continued failure to create the law, and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accused the government of showing a “lack of respect” to the Hillsborough families.

Lack of government response to Hillsborough report 'intolerable' (The Guardian)

Right Rev James Jones criticises failure to address its findings more than five years since publication.

There was no consultation with the bereaved families before the announcement, it emerged. Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, Jones said: “I think we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the families. [Home Office](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/home-office) said it had established an independent review to consider what went wrong with the original pathology report into the deaths.

Police chiefs apologise for 'profound failings' over Hillsborough ... (Financial Times)

Nearly 34 years after the Hillsborough stadium disaster, police leaders have apologised to families of the 97 victims, acknowledging that “police failures ...

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Hillsborough disaster