Devine died in 2021, as a consequence of the injuries sustained at Hillsborough, with his death being ruled by the coroner to have been an unlawful killing, raising the total death toll of the disaster to 97.[73][74][75]. After the verdicts Barry Devonside, who had lost his son, witnessed Popper hosting a celebration party with police officers. Hillsborough inquest: The 14 key questions the jury must answer [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. "[255], In their history of The Sun, Peter Chippendale and Chris Horrie wrote:[256]. Rather than establishing crowd safety as their top priority, the clubs, local authorities and police viewed their roles and responsibilities through the 'lens of hooliganism'. On 12 September 2012, the Hillsborough Independent Panel concluded that no Liverpool fans were responsible in any way for the disaster,[122] and that its main cause was a "lack of police control". A 20 minute video of the disaster in Windows Media Player format. 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. [314][315] On the day of the inquest verdict, Ingham refused to apologise or respond to the previous comments he made, telling a reporter, "I have nothing to say. They buried their dead, comforted the bereaved and succoured the injured. [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. [98], There was no means for calculating when individual enclosures had reached capacity. Nobody really had any comment on itthey just took one look and went away shaking their heads in wonder at the enormity of it. When he presented his report in February 1998, he concluded that there was insufficient evidence for a new inquiry into the disaster. A police officer ordinarily made a visual assessment before guiding fans to other pens. [126][127], The panel noted that, despite being dismissed by the Taylor Report, the idea that alcohol contributed to the disaster proved remarkably durable. ", "Original 'copy' of Hillsborough story filed by White's news agency", "Hillsborough Inquests: 'Regrets' over pickpocketing claims", "Hillsborough: 20 years on, Liverpool has still not forgiven the newspaper it calls 'The Scum', "Hillsborough report: Prime Minister David Cameron's statement in full", "How the Sun's 'truth' about Hillsborough unravelled", "Hillsborough: telling the truth about the scum", "MacKenzie speaks out on Hillsborough comments", "Hillsborough: Former Sun editor apologises to Liverpool", "Liverpool Vs The Sun: How the City Rid Itself of the UK's Biggest Paper", "Liverpool's 23-year boycott of The Sun newspaper", "Sun boycott reduced Euroscepticism on Merseyside, study shows", "Hillsborough: The Sun 'profoundly sorry' over false fan conduct reports", "Newspaper review: Hillsborough 'justice' hailed, but not on Sun's front page", "News International chairman James Murdoch apologises to Liverpool over Sun's coverage of Hillsborough tragedy", "Hillsborough files: Reaction to release of government papers", "Hillsborough: Kelvin MacKenzie offers 'profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool', "Not Even The Sun Could Have Expected This Level of Anger After Hillsborough Inquest", "The Sun Relegates Hillsborough To Page 8, Outrage Ensues", "Sun and Times front pages criticised for ignoring Hillsborough verdict", "S*n and Times slammed for ignoring Hillsborough on front pages", "Hillsborough: Times admits front page 'mistake', "The Hillsborough Verdict Shows People Still Haven't Forgiven The Sun Even After 27 Years", "The S*n hides behind wall of silence after landmark Hillsborough verdicts", "Liverpool FC ban for Sun journalists over Hillsborough", "Everton join Liverpool in banning Sun journalists over coverage", "Hillsborough Inquiry: Press Release No. "[220] A gospel choir performed and the ceremony ended with a rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone". [242][243], In other regional newspapers, the Manchester Evening News wrote that the "Anfield Army charged on to the terrace behind the goalmany without tickets", and the Yorkshire Post wrote that the "trampling crush" had been started by "thousands of fans" who were "latecomers forc[ing] their way into the ground". [23] Police believed there would have been a real chance of fatalities had swift action not been taken, and recommended the club reduce its capacity. [243], On 19 April, four days after the disaster, Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of The Sun, ordered "The Truth" as the front-page headline, followed by three sub-headlines: "Some fans picked pockets of victims", "Some fans urinated on the brave cops" and "Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life". In paragraph 5 of his summary, Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said:[113]. [119] In April 2009, the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced she had requested secret files concerning the disaster be made public.[120]. A case, Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 A.C. 310, was eventually appealed to the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords and was an important milestone in the law of claims of secondary victims for negligently inflicted psychiatric injury. [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. Trevor Hicks, whose two daughters had been killed, described the verdicts as 'lawful' but 'immoral'.[83]. [71][72] The death toll reached 96 in March 1993, when artificial feeding and hydration were withdrawn from 22-year-old Tony Bland after nearly four years, during which time he had remained in a persistent vegetative state showing no sign of improvement. Duckenfield took medical retirement on a full police pension. [52] In the following days more than 200,000 people visited the "shrine" inside the stadium. It was performed by Lord Justice Stuart-Smith. They were asked 14 questions in relation to the disaster which killed 96 Liverpool . He added it would be like making jokes about the 2002 Bali bombings, in which eight fewer Australians were killed. A seven-foot-high circular bronze memorial was unveiled in the Old Haymarket district of Liverpool in April 2013. [60][61], A disaster appeal fund was set up with donations of 500,000 from the UK Government, 100,000 from Liverpool F.C. During the episode car mechanic Minty said: "Five years out of Europe because of Heysel, because they penned you lot in to stop you fighting on the pitch and then what did we end up with? The occasion was the first in which the two teams had met since the 1985 Bradford City stadium fire that had claimed 56 lives at Valley Parade. [85], One of the individual cases where the circumstances of death were not fully resolved was that of Kevin Williams, the fifteen-year-old son of Anne Williams. With 97 deaths and 766 injuries, it has the highest death toll in British sporting history. Following the finding that they did not have a case to answer, the restrictions were lifted.[207]. Another survivor had spent eight years in psychiatric care. 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. [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. Many uninjured fans assisted the injured; several attempted CPR and others tore down advertising hoardings to use as stretchers. [43] Football players from both teams were ushered to their respective dressing rooms, and told that there would be a 30-minute postponement. There are soapy politicians to make a pet of Liverpool, and Liverpool itself is always standing by to make a pet of itself. A headstone at the junction of Middlewood Road, Leppings Lane and Wadsley Lane, near the ground and by the. [39] The police at first attempted to stop fans from spilling out of the pens, some believing this to be a pitch invasion. Taylor concluded that policing on the day "broke down" and "the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control". This is our response", "Hillsborough inquest verdict: the front pages", "As disgusting as it is unsurprising. What he has got to understand is that we were speaking the truth for 23 years and apologies have only started to come today from them because of yesterday. In 1999, Anfield was packed with a crowd of around 10,000 people ten years after the disaster. [12], The second coroner's inquests were held from 1 April 2014 to 26 April 2016. A boycott of advertisers by American Liverpool fans eventually brought about an apology from him. Their views were not "the maverick view from a disaffected minority but the considered opinion of the majority of professionals present from the outset". A request was made to relieve some of the pressure, and match commander Ch Supt David Duckenfield gave the order to open an exit gate. They just don't want their names in any more sleaze. A memorial stone in the pavement on the south side of Liverpool's Anglican cathedral. [154], Prime Minister David Cameron also responded to the April 2016 verdict by saying that it represented a "long overdue" but "landmark moment in the quest for justice", adding "All families and survivors now have official confirmation of what they always knew was the case, that the Liverpool fans were utterly blameless in the disaster that unfolded at Hillsborough. It was April 26, 2016. The report stated that placing fans who were "merely unconscious" on their backs rather than in the recovery position, would have resulted in their deaths due to airway obstruction. Chief Superintendent Mole himself was to be transferred to the Barnsley division for "career development reasons". South Yorkshire Police had performed blood alcohol tests on the victims, some of them children, and ran computer checks on the national police database in an attempt to "impugn their reputation". 's The Den being the first new stadium to be built that fulfilled the recommendations. Margaret Aspinall, chairperson of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, asked for a face to face meeting with Hunt before deciding if she would[needs update] accept the apology. [203], In response to the acquittals, Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg called the lack of accountability over Hillsborough "the greatest scandal of British policing of our lifetimes". "[314][315] There have since been calls to have Ingham stripped of his knighthood. [46]:145 Any individuals within the stadium in need of medical attention were to be delivered expeditiously by police and paramedics to the CRP. Hillsborough: Fan injured in stadium disaster dies 32 years later It has since fuelled persistent and unsustainable assertions about drunken fan behaviour". Speaking after the disaster, Kelly backed all-seater stadiums, saying "We must move fans away from the ritual of standing on terraces". [102] Further that: "The anxiety to protect the sanctity of the pitch has caused insufficient attention to be paid to the risk of a crush due to overcrowding". close panel. That's why I am so grateful to my city and so proud of my city. [54] The following Sunday, a link of football scarves spanning the 1 mile (1.6km) distance across Stanley Park from Goodison Park to Anfield was created, with the final scarf in position at 3:06pm. How and when all 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster died [14] In June 2017, six people were charged with offences including manslaughter by gross negligence, misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice for their actions during and after the disaster. Hillsborough trial: 'Not enough' turnstiles at stadium - BBC News [13] They ruled that the supporters were unlawfully killed owing to grossly negligent failures by police and ambulance services to fulfil their duty of care. With the imminent release of police documents relating to events on 15 April 1989, the Hillsborough Family Support Group launched Project 96, a fundraising initiative on 1 August 2009. Flames were added either side of the Liverpool F.C. [278] Everton F.C. [16], At the time of the disaster most English football stadiums had high steel fencing between the spectators and the playing field in response to pitch invasions. [45], The agreed upon protocol for the South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service (SYMAS) was that ambulances were to queue at the entrance to the gymnasium, termed the casualty reception point, or CRP. [170] In early October, Bettison announced his retirement, becoming the first senior figure to step down since publication of the panel's report.[171][172][173]. [263] Chris Horrie estimated in 2014 that the tabloid's owners had lost 15million per month since the disaster, in 1989 prices. Stand Up Sit Down A Choice to Watch Football. This included the Wolverhampton-based Express & Star, which reported that the match had been cancelled as a result of a "pitch invasion in which many fans were injured". In a letter addressed to a victim's parent, Ingham wrote that the disaster was caused by "tanked up yobs". Match commander Duckenfield decided to open a gate into the stadium to alleviate pressure at the turnstiles . [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. Hillsborough disaster, incident in which a crush of football (soccer) fans ultimately resulted in 97 deaths and hundreds of injuries. [96] He said that "the Operational Order and police tactics on the day failed to provide for controlling a concentrated arrival of large numbers should that occur in a short period. Holes in the perimeter fencing were made by fans desperately attempting to rescue others. [236], On 30 April 1989, a friendly match organised by Celtic F.C. "Munich" is a reference to the deaths of eight Manchester United players in the Munich air disaster of 1958. It said criticism of Rooney was wrong and co-ordinated by the Liverpool Echo and Liverpool Post. [307], In June 2014, an unnamed 24-year-old British civil servant was sacked for posting offensive comments about the disaster on Wikipedia. Several campaigns have attempted to get the government to relax the regulation and allow standing areas to return to Premiership and Championship grounds. [284], The November 2002 edition of the men's lifestyle magazine FHM in Australia was swiftly withdrawn from sale soon after its publication, and a public apology made in the Australian and British editions, because it contained jokes mocking the disaster. An annual memorial ceremony is held at Anfield and at a church in Liverpool. [111], In May 1997, when the Labour Party came into office, Home Secretary Jack Straw ordered an investigation.
