Police chief unfairly singled out, Hillsborough trial told

A SOUTH YORKSHIRE police chief believed it was “wrong and unfair” that he was personally being blamed for the catalogue of failings that led to the Hillsborough disaster, a court heard.

The tragedy was an inevitability “by virtue of bad stadium design, bad planning, some aspects of crowd behaviour, some aspects of police behaviour, mistakes by various individuals and genuine human error”, said Ben Myers QC, defending David Duckenfield.

Detailing Mr Duckenfield’s version of events yesterday for the first time since he was charged with the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans, Mr Myers said the prosecution had become “personal” and was unfair. “This or something like this was going to happen sooner or later,” Mr Myers said of the disaster in 1989.

Mr Duckenfield, who was brought in as match-day commander just three weeks before the tragedy, should not be judged by 2019 standards of policing at football events, Mr Myers told Preston Crown Court.

He said Mr Duckenfield was being “held responsible for everything that went wrong that day” and this was “factually unfair”. He was “not negligent” and “he did his best”.

Mr Duckenfield, 74, of Bournemouth, denies the charge. He appeared in court with Graham Mackrell, 69, a former Sheffield Wednesday secretary from Stocking Pelham, Herts, who is charged with contravening a safety certificate and failing to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety Act.