96 deaths and the six greying men who must now face justice
1 THE MAN IN CHARGE
MATCH commander for the FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, former Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, was taking charge of a football fixture at Hillsborough for the first time.
The charges – manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 Liverpool FC fans – allege that he breached his duty of care over the dangers from overcrowding and consequent crushing in the Leppings Lane pens.
He also failed to take reasonable care to identify hazards to the safe entry of about 24,000 fans arriving from Leppings Lane, relieve crowd pressures in good time or monitor the number of fans in the pens, the charges say. At the fresh inquests last year, Duckenfield admitted to the jury that he had told the ‘terrible lie’ that fans stormed the gate to deflect blame away from himself and on to the supporters. MAX SENTENCE: LIFE IMPRISONMENT
2 REPEATED ‘LIES’ OVER ROLE
EVIDENCE for the Taylor inquiry into the tragedy was collected by Sir Norman Bettison, who went on to serve as the Chief Constable of both the Merseyside and West Yorkshire police forces.
But after the disaster the then-inspector was allegedly part of a unit that tried to blame drunken Liverpool supporters.
He has been charged with four offences of misconduct in public office over alleged lies about his involvement in the aftermath of the disaster and the culpability of fans.
Bettison, 61, is said to have lied in his 1998 application to take charge of the Merseyside force, when he said his role in the aftermath had been ‘peripheral’, as well as a month later to the Merseyside Police Authority, when he said he had ‘ never attempted to shift blame on to the shoulders of Liverpool supporters’.
It is also alleged that, following the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report in 2012, Bettison allowed Press releases to be issued in his name which untruthfully asserted he had never suggested ‘in public or private’ that fans’ behaviour had caused the disaster or ‘besmirched’ supporters. MAX SENTENCE: LIFE IMPRISONMENT
3 OVERSAW THE ‘COVER-UP’
FORMER Chief Superintendent Donald Denton, 79, oversaw the process of amend- ing officers’ statements after the disaster, according to the CPS. He is charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice – one for ordering statements to be amended and another for providing them to the West Midlands Police investigation. MAX SENTENCE: LIFE IMPRISONMENT
4 ‘CHANGED’ STATEMENTS
CENTRAL to the process of altering officers’ statements was former Detective Chief Inspector Alan Foster, the CPS says. The 70-year-old faces the same charges of perverting the course of justice as Denton. MAX SENTENCE: LIFE IMPRISONMENT
5 POLICE FORCE’S LAWYER
SOLICITOR Peter Metcalf, 67, acted for South Yorkshire Police at the Taylor Inquiry and the first inquests.
He has been charged with perverting the course of justice over advice on alterations, deletions and amendments of officers’ statements for which, the CPS said, there appeared to be ‘no justification’.
Count one alleges he gave advice on the alteration of officers’ statements, between April 15 and August 2, 1989, which he knew were provided to the West Midlands investigation into the disaster.
Count two relates to the drafting of an amended statement of the account of four officers, on or before July 19, 1990, concerning the monitoring of the Leppings Lane pens, that was subsequently sent to South Yorkshire Chief Constable Peter Hayes. MAX SENTENCE: LIFE IMPRISONMENT
6 RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFETY
AS SHEFFIELD Wednesday club secretary, Graham Mackrell was in charge of safety. He has been accused of three offences under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act and Health and Safety at Work Act.
Counts one and two allege Mackrell, 67, failed to agree with South Yorkshire Police exactly how fans would enter the ground, including how many turnstiles should be used, and did not make or keep records of the numbers of spectators admitted to each area of the stadium.
Count three alleges he failed to keep records and plans of the ground up to date or take reasonable care over arrangements for fans entering to the ground. MAX SENTENCE: 2 YEARS’ JAIL AND FINE