Fans escaped crush at Hillsborough eight years earlier

FOOTBALL fans were crushed on the terraces at Hillsborough eight years before the disaster, a court heard yesterday.

But lives were saved when police decided to open gates to allow the Tottenham supporters on to the pitch in April 1981.

Liverpool fans on the same Leppings Lane terraces at the Sheffield stadium were not so lucky in April 1989, Preston Crown Court was told.

David Duckenfield, 74, the police match commander, is on trial for the manslaughter of 95 supporters who died in a fatal crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

The 96th victim – Tony Bland, 22 – is not part of the prosecution because he died of brain damage almost four years after the disaster.

The jury was told that, in 1989, officers policing pens full of Liverpool supporters were under ‘strict orders’ not to open the pen gates on to the pitch unless a senior officer ordered them to do so.

Richard Matthews QC, prosecuting, said a decision to open the gates during the FA Cup semi- final between Tottenham and Wolves in April 1981 was key to preventing injury and saving lives. Mr Matthews read from a letter sent by a police chief to Herbert McGhee, the chairman of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, following the match.

It said: ‘Beyond doubt 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..’

No such order was given in 1989 by Duckenfield who, the prosecution say, allowed a large number of fans into the ground shortly before the 3pm kick-off to relieve pressure outside the turnstiles without proper consideration of the consequences for those packed in pens inside.

The jury was told the 1989 tragedy occurred against a backdrop of ‘serious hooliganism’. CCTV cameras trained on the turnstiles at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground were there not for the safety of fans, but to guard against fraud and stop supporters getting in without tickets or paying, the court heard.

Duckenfield, of Bournemouth, is on trial alongside Graham Mackrell, 69, the former club secretary at Sheffield Wednesday who faces safety charges. They deny the charges. The trial continues.