Twelve former police officers would have faced gross misconduct proceedings on the day of the Hillsborough disaster, blaming fans in the aftermath, according to a report by the police watchdog published today.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct upheld or found cases to answer for misconduct in 92 complaints about police actions relating to the Hillsborough disaster, but the law at the time means no officers will face sanctions, because they retired before investigations began.
The report says the officers facing disciplinary proceedings would have included former South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Peter Wright for attempting to “deflect blame” towards Liverpool fans.
The list also includes match commander Ch Supt David Duckenfield, who would have faced 10 allegations, including failing to plan adequately to prevent the disaster, failing to respond when things began to go wrong and failing to act when people were in distress.
The 12 police offers named in the report are…
- Chief Constable Peter Wright – Six allegations relating to efforts to deflect blame towards Liverpool fans
- Assistant Chief Constable Walter Jackson – Two allegations relating to failing to adequately plan for the match and failing to organise and direct junior officers to help save lives
- Ch Supt David Duckenfield – 10 allegations around failing to adequately plan for the match, failing to respond to the unfolding disaster and lying about his order to open Gate C
- Supt Bernard Murray – Five allegations around failing to plan adequately and failing to respond effectively to the unfolding disaster
- Supt Roger Marshall – Two allegations around failing to control the flow of supporters and wrongly calling for gates to be opened to relieve the pressure outside the ground
- Ch Insp Norman Bettison – Two allegations of dishonesty over his role in the disaster while applying for a job as Chief Constable at Merseyside Police in 1998, and also providing misleading press statements
- Det Ch Insp Alan Foster – One allegation of pressuring SYP officers who refused to make alterations to their original accounts of what happened that day
- Insp Harry White – One allegation of failing to manage the build up of the crowd in the inner concourse and his subsequent response
- Sgt John Morgan – Two allegations of being absent from his area of responsibility and failing to take action after Gate C was opened at 14:48 GMT
- Supt Roger Greenwood – One allegation that he failed to respond to events in Pens 3 and 4 and failed to organise junior officers to help save lives
- Assistant Chief Constable Mervyn Jones – Four allegations of failing to effectively investigate SYP and bias towards the force, and against supporters
- Det Ch Supt Michael Foster – Six allegations along similar lines
