'A source of national shame'... how police failed at every turn

A MAJOR new investigation from the police watchdog has suggested for the first time that senior police officers from a second police force potentially helped South Yorkshire Police (SYP) officers to undermine the battle for truth and justice over the Hillsborough disaster, in which 97 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed.

- By LIAM THORP

The vast new report includes findings from years of investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and Operation Resolve - the criminal investigation into the disaster at Hillsborough Stadium on April 15, 1989.

It has concluded that South Yorkshire Police fundamentally failed in its planning for the FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest - and in how it dealt with traumatised supporters and families who were desperately searching for their loved ones before officers attempted to deflect blame for the disaster onto Reds supporters.

For the first time, this investigation examined the actions of a different police force, West Midlands Police (WMP), which was tasked with investigating the disaster and supporting the subsequent Taylor Inquiry and report which followed. That investigation was yesterday branded “wholly unsatisfactory” with allegations of bias from senior officers.

The IOPC said this is the largest independent investigation into alleged police misconduct and criminality ever carried out in England and Wales - but a senior lawyer acting on behalf of bereaved families said the fact not one single police officer will face disciplinary proceedings for what happened at Hillsborough was “yet another bitter injustice” for those who have never seen anyone held accountable for the preventable and traumatic loss of their loved ones.

Using new evidence obtained by the two key investigations - which both began after the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report in 2012 - this report has found nothing to change the conclusions of that panel and the subsequent fresh inquests, which concluded in 2016 that the 97 Liverpool fans who died in and after the crush on April 15, 1989 were unlawfully killed, confirming there is zero evidence to support police accounts from the time that the behaviour of supporters caused or was a contributing factor to the disaster.