The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Hillsborough: ‘Significant contradictions’ in witness account
Hillsborough families will call for a review of the decision not to prosecute former police chief Sir Norman Bettison, after the case against him was discontinued.
Sir Norman, 62, had been charged with four counts of misconduct in a public office, all relating to alleged lies he told following the disaster at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, in which 96 Liverpool fans died.
At a hearing before judge Sir Peter Openshaw at Preston Crown Court yesterday, Sarah Whitehouse QC, prosecuting, said the proceedings would be discontinued as there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.
She said that, under the victims’ right of review process, those with a “significant” interest in the case had three months to seek a review of the decision.
Margaret Aspinall, chairwoman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said: “We have grave concerns about the handling of this case by the CPS and can confirm that we will be exercising our right to an independent review under the right to review scheme.
“It is our view that the wrong charge was brought in the first place and we will be using the review process to argue this point strongly.”
Speaking outside court, Lou Brookes, whose brother Andrew, 26, died in the tragedy, said: “I will certainly be pursuing my right to a review, a full and independent review, under the victims’ right to review scheme.”
Sir Norman had been a chief inspector in South Yorkshire Police at the time of the disaster.
He was off duty on the day but in the aftermath of the tragedy was part of a team tasked with finding material for police lawyers to present to the public inquiry led by Lord Justice Taylor.
He was charged with misconduct for allegedly telling lies about his role in the disaster in 1998, when he applied for the chief constable job at Merseyside Police, and in 2012, when the Hillsborough Independent Panel report was published.
Ms Whitehouse told the court that, since the defendant was charged, in June last year, the “state of the evidence has changed”.
The court heard that witness Mark Ellaby had died and “significant contradictions” had come to light in the accounts given by another witness.