Other members were:[121]. [100], The report noted that the official capacity of the central pens was 2,200, that the Health and Safety Executive found this should have been reduced to 1,693 due to crush barriers and perimeter gates,[101] but actually an estimated 3,000 people were in the pens around 3:00pm. Meanwhile, on the pitch, police, stewards and members of the St John Ambulance service were overwhelmed. I too was totally misled. . I published in good faith and I am sorry that it was so wrong". Scrutiny of Evidence Relating to the Hillsborough Football Stadium Disaster (Command Paper); Home Office; Sports Stadia After Hillsborough: Seminar Papers; This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 21:14. "[115], The Hillsborough Independent Panel was instituted in 2009 by the British government to investigate the Hillsborough disaster, to oversee the disclosure of documents about the disaster and its aftermath and to produce a report. Former Chief Superintendent Duckenfield, in charge of the match, faced 95 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence. The name, originally that of a hill in South Africa, usually refers to an unusually steep stand. [35], Three chartered trains transported Liverpool supporters to Sheffield for a match in 1988, but only one such train ran in 1989. [89] Phillips stated that the exclusion of their evidence was a 'serious error of judgement' by Popper. No known minutes exist of this meeting. The Hillsborough memorial at Anfield (featuring the names of the 96 who lost their lives, and an eternal flame) was located next to the Shankly Gates before it was moved to the front of the redeveloped main stand in 2016. In all but one case, the jury recorded the time of death as later than the 3:15pm cut-off point adopted by the coroner at the original inquests. [293], In November 2007, the BBC soap opera EastEnders caused controversy when the character Minty Peterson (played by Cliff Parisi) made a reference to the disaster. [39] Those still trapped in the pens were packed so tightly that many victims died of compressive asphyxia while standing. We said it was the truth - it wasn't for that we're deeply ashamed and profoundly sorry". Sadly I must report that for the most part the quality of their evidence was in inverse proportion to their rank". No formal pleas were taken from the other four defendants. [238][239], In December 2021, Liverpool City Council nominated Andrew Devine posthumously for the freedom of the city of Liverpool, a tribute given to the original 96 victims in 2016. That's why I am so grateful to my city and so proud of my city. [261][262] The Financial Times reported in 2019 that Merseyside sales were estimated to drop from 55,000 per day to 12,000 per day, an 80% decrease. There were cases of alcoholism, drug abuse, and collapsed marriages involving people who had witnessed the events. Two sisters, three pairs of brothers, and a father and son were among those who died,[69] as were two men about to become fathers for the first time: 25-year-old Steven Brown of Wrexham[76] and 30-year-old Peter Thompson of Widnes. [323][324], As the documentary included previously unreleased security camera footage from the stadium on the day of the disaster, it could not be shown in the UK upon initial release due to the 2012 High Court inquest still being in progress. [63] Much of the money went to victims and relatives of those involved in the disaster and provided funds for a college course to improve the hospital phase of emergency care. As the prime minister has made clear, these allegations were wholly untrue and were part of a concerted plot by police officers to discredit the supporters thereby shifting the blame for the tragedy from themselves. As a result of the stadium layout and segregation policy, turnstiles that would normally have been used to enter the North Stand from the east were off-limits and all Liverpool supporters had to converge on a single entrance at Leppings Lane. Hundreds of people were pressed against one another and the fencing by the weight of the crowd behind them. Another psychiatric injury claim was brought to the House of Lords, White v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 A.C. 455. Deborah Glass, deputy chair of the IPCC said, "We know the people who have contacted us are the tip of the iceberg." On the day of the match, radio and television broadcasters advised fans without tickets not to attend. Representatives of the 96 victims of the disaster stated that they would be asking for an independent review of the decision under the Right to Review Scheme. [24][25] The incident nonetheless prompted Sheffield Wednesday to alter the layout at the Leppings Lane end, dividing the terrace into three separate pens to restrict sideways movement. was played at Celtic Park, Glasgow, between the home club and Liverpool. The Taylor Inquiry sat for a total of 31 days (between 15May and 29June 1989)[92] and published two reports: an interim report (1August 1989) which laid out the events of the day and immediate conclusions; and a final report (19January 1990) which outlined general recommendations on football ground safety. [78] The oldest person to die at Hillsborough was 67-year-old Gerard Baron, an older brother of former Liverpool player Kevin Baron. However, MacKenzie did not accept any personal responsibility for the story. It was a fundamental mistake. This confusion migrated to the first responders waiting in ambulances at the CRP, a location which quickly deteriorated into an ambulance parking lot. The Taylor Report had a deep impact on safety standards for stadiums in the UK. . The disaster has been acknowledged on 15April every year by the community in Liverpool and football in general. trying to usher myself and my husband out . His actions were disowned by Chelsea Football Club and he no longer works as a broadcaster. I do not consider that there is any material which should be put before the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Police Complaints Authority which might cause them to reconsider the decisions they have already taken. It made recommendations on the safety of crowds penned within fences,[21] including that "all exit gates should be manned at all times and capable of being opened immediately from the inside by anyone in an emergency".[22]. The 10th and 20th anniversaries were marked by special services to remember the victims.[214][215]. Human crush during the 1989 FA Cup semi-final. Hooliganism had affected the sport for some years and was particularly virulent in England. [129], Subsequent apologies were released by Prime Minister David Cameron on behalf of the government,[9] Ed Miliband on behalf of the opposition,[130] Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, South Yorkshire Police, and former editor of The Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, who apologised for making false accusations under the headline "The Truth". [197], On 13 March 2019, it was reported that Duckenfield would not be called to give evidence in his defence. MacKenzie maintained for years that his "only mistake was to believe a Tory MP". [118], In the years after the disaster, the Hillsborough Family Support Group had campaigned for the release of all relevant documents into the public domain. Consequently, a course of public justice could not have been perverted. [3] The match was abandoned and restaged at Old Trafford in Manchester on 7 May 1989; Liverpool won and went on to win that season's FA Cup. [56], The FA chief executive Graham Kelly, who had attended the match, said the FA would conduct an inquiry into what had happened. Taylor Report - Wikipedia Twenty-three years ago I was handed a piece of copy from a reputable news agency in Sheffield, in which a senior police officer and a senior local MP were making serious allegations against fans in the stadium. The entrance had a limited number of turnstiles, of which just seven . . [260], Widespread boycotts of the newspaper throughout Merseyside followed immediately and continue to this day. [308], In 2009, nearly twenty years to the day after the disaster, Steven Cohen, a presenter on Fox Soccer Channel and Sirius satellite radio in the United States (an Englishman and Chelsea fan), stated on his radio show that Liverpool fans "without tickets" were the "root cause" and "perpetrators" of the disaster. The event also raised cash for the Marina Dalglish Appeal which was contributed towards a radiotherapy centre at University Hospital in Aintree.[230][231]. [4], Police disciplinary charges were abandoned when Duckenfield retired on health grounds and, because Murray was unavailable, it was decided not to proceed with disciplinary charges against him. [112] The appointment of Stuart-Smith was not without controversy. The record was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and featured Liverpool musicians Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden (of the Pacemakers), Holly Johnson, and The Christians. [147] On 6 April 2016, the nine jurors were sent out to consider their verdicts. [199] It was announced on 25June that Duckenfield would face a retrial, which was scheduled to start on 7October at Preston Crown Court. Although there was enough evidence to charge the farrier with perverting the course of justice, it was felt not to be in the public interest to charge him. The equipment was no use on the ambulance vehicle when critical early resuscitation was taking place some distance away on the pitch, behind the Leppings Lane end and in the gymnasium. [37], The report dismissed the theory, put forward by South Yorkshire Police, that fans attempting to gain entry without tickets or with forged tickets were contributing factors. On the day after the verdicts were reached, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, made a statement to Parliament which included the verdicts of the jury to the fourteen questions they had been asked regarding the roles of South Yorkshire police, the South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service, Sheffield Wednesday football club and Hillsborough stadium's engineers and two specific questions specific relating to the time and cause of death for each of the dead. An additional three victims came from Sheffield with two more living in counties adjacent to South Yorkshire. I published in good faith and I am sorry that it was so wrong. [1] This resulted in overcrowding of those pens and the crush. The Leppings Lane end of the ground did not hold a valid safety certificate at the time of the disaster; it had not been updated since 1979. He dismissed the claim by senior police officers that they had no reason to anticipate problems, since congestion had occurred at both the 1987 and 1988 semi-finals. By 2:45pm, 5,531 fans had passed through the turnstiles into the terrace. On 14 May, more than 20,000 people packed Anfield for a match held in memory of the victims. 14 in the UK charts.[229]. In the email, which came to light as the result of a Freedom of Information request, Crompton had said that the families' "version of certain events has become 'the truth' even though it isn't". "[114] This was controversial as the subsequent response of the police and emergency services would not be scrutinised. How They Buried the Truth", "Bruce Grobbelaar: I heard the crowd at Hillsborough cry 'Please help us..', "Senior police officer did not step in, Hillsborough trial hears", "Key Hillsborough Evidence Backed By TV Footage", "Ambulanceman's Struggle to Live with Decisions Made on Pitch at Hillsborough", "Hillsborough: New Probe Backs Crucial Evidence", "Ambulances Got 'Stuck' As They Tried to Enter Hillsborough Stadium, Inquests Hear", "Police to face inquiry as questions go unanaswered", "Liverpool resists pressure to make decision on FA Cup", "Soccer rivals united in grief as church bells toll", "MPs urge Hurd to introduce safety gates into 'killer cages', "Feature: It's Up For Grabs Now The 20th Anniversary Of Anfield 1989", "A random sample of letters from public, schools and clubs reflecting the nature of donations to the disaster appeal fund", "College course developed with funds from the Hillsborough Disaster Appeal Fund goes from strength to strength", "The Official Charts Company Ferry Cross The Mersey by Gerry Marsden, Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson, The Christians and Stock Aitken Waterman Search", "Hillsborough: Brian Reade on the day that changed football forever", "Mum pays tribute to teenage Hillsborough victim Lee Nicol from Smollett Street Bootle", "James Milner's Hillsborough Liverpool Champions League", "A statement from the family of Andrew Devine", "Steven Brown, 25 Hillsborough 96 Hillsborough Remembered", "Peter Thompson, 30 Hillsborough 96 Hillsborough Remembered", "Steven Gerrard says death of his cousin at Hillsborough was biggest inspiration", "Hillsborough's '97th victim' remembered", "Hillsborough: how stories of disaster police were altered", "Timeline of a 27 year fight for the truth after the Hillsborough disaster", "Judgement of Divisional Court, 5 November 1993 application to quash the Inquest verdicts of six of the Hillsborough victims", "European court blow for mother of Hillsborough victim", "Two doctors who criticised Hillsborough ambulance response speak of "vindication" after inquests", "The two doctors who criticised the Hillsborough ambulance response", "Football: Long haul to implement Taylor Report", "The Architects Journal:Building Study (September 1993)", "The Stuart Smith Scrutiny Hillsborough Football Disaster", "Scrutiny of Evidence Relating to the Hillsborough Football Stadium Disaster", "Hillsborough inquiry by Blair government criticised", "Hillsborough Independent Panel: Disclosed Material and Report | Home page", "Organisations and people whose material has been reviewed", "Hillsborough panel set to publish report on 1989 disaster", "Who are the members of the Hillsborough Independent Panel? [233] Halfway through the minute's silence, the A.C. Milan fans sang Liverpool's "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a sign of respect. [133], Calls were made for the resignation of police officers involved in the cover-up, and for Sheffield Wednesday, the police and the Football Association to admit their blame. The 350 passengers arrived at the ground at about 2:20pm. The error staring them in the face was too glaring. [290] Although the original apology was not printed in the magazine as it was not considered "serious enough",[291] its Australian editor, Geoff Campbell, released a statement: "We deeply regret the photograph captions published in the November issue of the Australian edition of FHM, accompanying an article about the Hillsborough disaster of 1989. [268], On 12 September 2012, after the publication of the report exonerating the Liverpool fans, MacKenzie issued the following statement:[269]. "[255], In their history of The Sun, Peter Chippendale and Chris Horrie wrote:[256]. [140][141][142] Bettison denied the claim, and other allegations about his conduct, saying:[143]. [1][4] The inquests also found that the design of the stadium contributed to the crush, and that supporters were not to blame for the dangerous conditions. Match commander Duckenfield decided to open a gate into the stadium to alleviate pressure at the turnstiles . September 2012 Hillsborough disaster report (7.25 megabytes), 1915 British football match-fixing scandal, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hillsborough_disaster&oldid=1141795975, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from January 2022, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Articles to be expanded from January 2022, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from December 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Christine Gifford, expert in the field of access to information.