£250k to fire Hillsborough police chief

A CHIEF constable was unlawfully suspended and asked to quit after the Hillsborough inquests, the High Court ruled yesterday.

The former head of South Yorkshire Police, David Crompton, had been criticised for appearing to justify police questioning of fans’ behaviour.

The ruling was a humiliating defeat for the region’s police and crime commissioner Dr Alan Billings, who had argued that the comments made in April 2016 ‘eroded trust’ in the police.

Dr Billings is now facing criticism over the mounting public cost of the legal wrangle. Mr Crompton was due to retire last November after 30 years’ service. The process of removing him several months early from the job and the High Court challenge that followed cost £157,000. With taxpayers set to pick up Mr Crompton’s legal costs too, the bill is likely to top £250,000.

The High Court described the decision to ask for Mr Crompton’s resignation as ‘wholly disproportionate’ and ‘irrational’. The judges said no ‘fair minded’ person could conclude that Mr Crompton had criticised Liverpool fans.