Hillsborough commander given legal aid to fight case

HILLSBOROUGH football tragedy police commander David Duckenfield is to receive legal aid to fight possible prosecution on charges of gross negligence manslaughter .

News of the development came yesterday at a hearing at Preston Crown Court, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. A judge made an order that the former chief superintendent qualifies for legal representation for High Court proceedings next year.

At a previous hearing on Nov 24, Mr Justice William Davis heard from a lawyer acting for Mr Duckenfield free of charge that there was no funding to oppose a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) application for a stay on prosecution, granted in 2000, to be lifted.

The judge said the High Court application involved factual and legal issues of complexity and “significant public importance”.

Six people face charges relating to the tragedy on April 15 1989, in which 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at an FA Cup semi-final at the Sheffield ground. Future trials are scheduled to be at Preston Crown Court.

Mr Duckenfield, now 73, faces 95 counts of gross negligence manslaughter, but he cannot be formally charged pending the outcome of the High Court proceedings.

The CPS application was originally due to be heard in January, but will now be in late February.

John Dye, a barrister who has been acting for Mr Duckenfield pro-bono, told the judge that he had been “keen not to put any pressure on public funds and remains so”. But Mr Duckenfield’s case for the High Court action had to be “properly prepared”.

Mr Dye has said the High Court application involved “serious, complex and novel legal arguments in relation to the lifting of the stay”.

The funding was for the retired officer to oppose the CPS bid to lift the stay, and to assist “if necessary” with the cost of his “defence on the charges”.