CONTROL ROOM

THE police match commander on the day of the Hillsborough disaster ordered access gates to the pitch to be kept shut unless a senior officer said otherwise, a court heard.

David Duckenfield allegedly gave the instructions during a briefing before the crushing horror at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Yet lives were potentially saved in a 1981 semifinal as police opened gates in the perimeter fence when there was another crush on the same terrace.

Duckenfield, 74, is on trial accused of the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans who died on April 15, 1989.

Jurors heard officers at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground that day had been “given strict orders to keep access gates on to the pitch closed, only to open them by express command of a senior officer”.

Prosecutor Richard Matthews QC said police constable Fiona Nicol remembered the pre-match briefing and will give evidence at the trial.

He said: “She will describe how what stuck in her mind about the match briefing was an instruction Mr Duckenfield gave that the pitch perimeter gates were not to be opened unless permission was first obtained.”

Describing the crush eight years previously during the FA Cup clash between Spurs and Wolves, he said: “The police response was to relieve the pressure by opening the pitch perimeter gates to let people out.” The jury was shown footage from that match, with fans sitting pitchside alongside press photographers.

Mr Matthews also read excerpts from a letter sent the following June by a senior South Yorkshire Police officer to then Sheffield Wednesday chairman Herbert Mcgee. It said: “[It is] beyond doubt that the police action, in letting spectators on to the track, was not only necessary but was vital to avoid further serious injuries and possibly save life.”

In 1987 Coventry City played Leeds United as Hillsborough hosted another FA Cup semi-final. The court was told the decision was made to delay kick-off by 15 minutes because supporters had been held up by heavy traffic.

Mr Matthews said the jury would also hear evidence of how police checked the tickets of Leeds fans at a “filter point”