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Justice for victims of the Hillsborough disaster

The verdict has been handed in and Liverpool's fans have been exonerated in relation to the Hillsborough disaster.
Roar Rookie
27th April, 2016
25

The Hillsborough disaster in 1989 left 96 Liverpool fans dead.

And 27 years is how long it took to fight through the lies, covers-up and failures of the South Yorkshire Police, including the lies and failures of the UK Government and News Corporations’ The Sun.

It’s beyond belief it took this long.

When travelling fans awoke on the morning of 15 April 1989, no one expected what would happen that very day.

Liverpool where set to play Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield.

As Liverpool fans approached the Leppings Lane entrance to Hillsborough Stadium at 2.30 pm, a build-up began.

More fans were arriving than could be safely filtered through the turnstiles. Combined with ticket holders at the wrong turnstiles and fans refused entry, no one could leave because of the crowd congestion.

The police then made a decision to open an exit gate to help with the large congestion of fans, which resulted in thousands of fans entering a narrow tunnel that lead into the rear of the terrace. The tunnel led into two overcrowded pens.

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This resulted in creation of pressure at the front, with hundreds of people being pressed against one another and the fence.

People who entered were unaware of what was happening, with the usual police or stewards who normally stood at the tunnel’s entrance for direction aid not present.

At 3:06 pm referee Ray Lewis stopped the match on police advice, as fans had climbed the fence and went onto the field, which the police attempted to stop.

Eventually the pressure on the crush barriers on the terraces broke.

The inquest has found that the police now hold most of the responsibility for what happened at Hillsborough.

Chief superintendent John Nesbitt of the South Yorkshire Police was quoted with saying, “We let the fans help so that they would not take out their frustration on the police.”

In total, 44 ambulances arrived, yet the police only allowed one to enter the stadium, with only 14 of the 96 fatalities making it to hospital.

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In later prosecutions, it was revealed that chief superintendent David Duckenfield deceitfully and dishonestly told senior Football Association officials that Liverpool supporters had forced open the gate that saw fans flood into the stadium before kick-off, when in fact Duckenfield had given the order.

The 1990 Taylor Report critised the South Yorkshire Police, saying senior officers in command where defensive and evasive witnesses who refused to talk any responsibility for their errors.

In 2009, the Hillsborough Independent Panel was formed and in 2012, the Panel concluded that no Liverpool fans were responsible for the disaster and that a lack of police control was its main cause.

The findings concluded that 164 witness statements had been altered, to either remove or change negative comments about the South Yorkshire Police and that MP for Sheffield Halam, Irvine Patnick, passed inaccurate and false information from the police to the press, which resulted in the infamous Sun headline.

On 19 April, the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper ran the headline “The Truth”, followed by “Some fans picked pockets of victims. Some fans urinated on the brave cops. Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life”, with the newspaper quoting words from unnamed police officers and Patnick.

When then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Hillsborough, Patnick said it was “mayhem caused by drunks”.

The 2012 Panel report concluded that information passed by Patnick was inaccurate and untrue.

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And now on 26 April 2016, a new inquest came back with the verdict that supporters were unlawfully killed due to the failings of both police efforts and ambulance response.

Stadium design was also at fault, but it was reaffirmed that Liverpool supporters were not to blame for the deaths.

A relishing fact for Liverpool supporters and family and friends of the deceased, who were slammed for years by many, including rival fans and even UEFA President Jacques Georges, who labelled Liverpool supporters as beasts.

Liverpool fans have walked through a storm for the past 27 years, dealing with the loss of family and friends due to the Hillsborough disaster.

But they have now been exonerated.

There has been justice for the 96.

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