Hillsborough accused faces trial but will try to block prosecution
Bias claims dismissed as accused appear in court
HILLSBOROUGH MATCH commander David Duckenfield could go on trial in autumn next year in Preston but will attempt to block any prosecution, a court has heard.
Duckenfield, 72, is scheduled to go before a jury at a trial starting on September 10 and lasting between ten and 12 weeks at Preston Crown Court, according to provisional details given at a pretrial hearing at the same venue.
However, Duckenfield and five other defendants will first attempt to block any prosecution as an “abuse of process” on the grounds of delay and prejudicial publicity, the court heard.
Duckenfield faces 95 charges of gross negligence manslaughter following the 1989 football disaster. He cannot be prosecuted until a stay on any further prosecution is lifted in the High Court.
He would go on trial alongside Graham Mackrell, 67, the former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary, who faces health and safety and sports ground safety offences.
Three other defendants – retired police officers Donald Denton, 79, and Alan Foster, 70 and retired force solicitor Peter Metcalf, 67, who acted for South Yorkshire Police following the 1989 disaster – are scheduled to face a trial lasting up to four months beginning in January 2019. They all face charges of perverting the course of justice.
The trial of former chief constable Sir Norman Bettison, 61, accused of misconduct in a public office, is scheduled for May 2019 and is expected to last for four weeks.
PRESTON CROWN Court would be an “appropriate and proper” venue to hold any trials for the men accused of criminal offences over the Hillsborough disaster, a judge has ruled.
The ruling by Mr Justice William Davis came as five men charged following an investigation into the tragedy and its aftermath appeared at the court for the first time in relation to the events of April 15,1989.
In his ruling yesterday, Mr Justice Davis said their representatives had argued that any future trials should not take place at Preston Crown Court. Leeds, London and Birmingham were suggested as possible alternatives.
Addressing the question of where any trial should take place, Mr Justice Davis added: “The first and critical question I have to consider is the question of bias.
“The facts do not give rise to a real possibility a jury empanelled at Preston Crown Court would be biased.”
Further hearings are now due to take place in January and April next year, with a provisional date for the first trial in September.
Former West Yorkshire and Merseyside chief constable Sir Norman Bettison, 61, appeared along with fellow retired police officers Donald Denton, 79, and Alan Foster, 70, former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell, 67, and solicitor Peter Metcalf, 67, who acted for South Yorkshire Police following the 1989 disaster.
Match commander David Duckenfield, 72, also faces 95 counts of gross negligence manslaughter but will not be formally charged and appear in court with the other five until an application to lift a stay on prosecution at the High Court has been heard in January next year.
Mr Justice Davis ruled that a single judge should be appointed to oversee the case initially and deal with any applications. That judge will then make a decision over whether there ought to be trials running in parallel or one after the other.
Bettison, who was a chief inspector in South Yorkshire Police at the time of the tragedy, is charged with four offences of misconduct in a public office over alleged lies in accounts of his involvement in the disaster.
Mackrell, who was the safety officer for the football club, is charged with two offences involving the stadium safety certificate and a health and safety offence.
Denton, Foster and Metcalf are each charged with two offences of doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice relating to amendments made to police officers’ statements following the tragedy.
Ninety-six Liverpool fans were crushed to death in pens at the Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough Stadium on April 15 1989, as their FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest began. All the defendants remain on bail.