The Hillsborough Papers

[boroinbishop]

Here they are: http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/r...report.pdf


theres 389 pages of them, havent read through it yet but i intend to read through a lot of it in the coming days, shocking how the police tried to cover that up, and thatcher knew about it yet never spoke up against them.

[Downsouth]

Due to the magnitude of what occurred and what is now known all I want is for justice to be done. Those who have suffered will continue to suffer for the rest of their lives but I hope for their sakes that eventually there maybe some closure!

"You'll never walk alone"

[boroinbishop]

finally a comment!!!!!!!!!!

thought this would be something that interested members tbf

[ballyclover]

i've very briefly read some of the pages,but as far as i am aware the incident was still caused by a surge of Liverpool fans pushing forward?

still dont understand why police covered up and falsified statements but i assume it was to suggest the surge was caused by drunken fans.

I am not convinced anyone is to blame for the terrrible events and regardless of the finding it was still a surge of liverpool fans that lead to the event. Hind sight is a terrible thing sometimes

[VectorBoro]

Ballyclover ... The reason the Police covered up and falsified statements was because they were at fault.

They had an inexperienced Chief Officer in charge of the match day who had never encounted anything so big previously who stupidly gave the orders for the exit gate to be opened without even thinking of directing the crowds to the left or right handside of the central tunnel where there was plenty of space.

He also should have insisted on a delayed kick off due to traffic problems on the M62 which caused some fans to arrive late to the ground.

The people of Liverpool have been tarnished for the last 23 years because of the lies and deceit of the South Yorkshire Police (And Government) who not only contributed to the killing of those 96 innocent victims but also prevented 41 of them possibly from still being a live today.

A friend of mine was nearly caught up in that day,if it wasnt for the Royal Mail delivering his post late with his tickets he would have been in the Leppings End but didnt arrive until 3.05pm by which time they closed the gate. He was one of the lucky ones.

The thing that gets to me is even after David Cameron has cleared all the Liverpool fans of any wrong doing and confirming that their fans were not drunk,werent late,werent ticketless etc etc people still believe some of the Bull that The Sun newspaper printed on the Tuesday following the disaster.

It is one of the biggest cover ups in British History and I now hope that the people who were guilty that day are brought to justice.

[richmfc]

the fans did surge forward as they would when the game is just about to kick off, weve all been in crowds (well those that remember standing) when weve nearly been crushed , noone is actually pushing but by the time you get anywhere near the front you cant breathe , ive been in the holgate before in front of a barrier and still got crushed ,
the police deficiencies came when they let the fans run in and then didnt react to anything that was happening, as pointed out 1 ambulance got on the pitch while 40 were kept outside

[sackrobson]

As said by VB above "They had an inexperienced Chief Officer in charge of the match day who had never encounted anything so big previously who stupidly gave the orders for the exit gate to be opened without even thinking of directing the crowds to the left or right handside of the central tunnel where there was plenty of space."

This was ultimately the reason why the tragedy happened and while it was clearly incompetence / inexperience there was no malice involved and it was a tragic accident. The true crime is that they obviously realised they were at fault and altered all the statements to cover it up. The people involved in that have to be punished as it has tarnished the Liverpool fans for 23 years.

[DB23]

Great summary there VB.

I can still remember it happening. I was listening to it on the radio as I was preparing for some exams down at Nottingham. Came across as crowd trouble at first by the commentators, then the reality kicked in and the tragedy unfolded. Kids, adults, old people, men and women killed. Absolutely shocking the way the Chief Officer handled it - that can be put down to human error and I'm sure he carries the burden of guilt. But a contrived cover up and misinformation to dis the fans is disgusting and criminal. Nothing short of what I would expect from the Tories at that time who treated all football fans (and union members) like criminals.

Let's hope those who lied and twisted the truth are suitably named, shamed and punished and the Liverpool fans affected by this given some degree of peace. Shocking by the then government and police, but sadly, not surprising.

Well done Trevor Hicks for sticking with this. The man deserves a medal.

[Aarfy_Aardvark]

Previously happened in 81 between Spurs and Wolves too. Would have caused an even greater loss of life then, had the police decided not to open the gate. I suppose in the intervening years from 81 to 89 English football fans didn't exactly give off a positive reputation which led to the police treating fans with more contempt and not wanting them to spill onto the pitch to cause trouble.

It says a lot about our society that is has taken 23 years for the truth to come out - much in the same way it took 28 years for the truth behind Bloody Sunday to emerge. An absolute *** disgrace.

[ballyclover]

just read through more of the statements and take back my comments. Should have read the full story before hand. It is clear the fans were not to blame, and its disgracefull the action of some of the officers invovled as well as the coroner even.

Completely apoligise if any offense was caused