[53] The Liverpool F.C. The cast included Christopher Eccleston, Annabelle Apsion, Ricky Tomlinson and Mark Womack. It became still less likely when those on the track made no move towards the pitch. On the day after the verdicts were reached, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, made a statement to Parliament which included the verdicts of the jury to the fourteen questions they had been asked regarding the roles of South Yorkshire police, the South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service, Sheffield Wednesday football club and Hillsborough stadium's engineers and two specific questions specific relating to the time and cause of death for each of the dead. 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. In 2014, to mark the 25th anniversary of the disaster, the FA decided that all FA Cup, Premier League, Football League, and Football Conference matches played between 1114 April would kick-off seven minutes later than originally scheduled with a six-minute delay and a one-minute silence tribute.[218]. [18], A report by Eastwood & Partners for a safety certificate for the stadium in 1978 concluded that although it failed to meet the recommendations of the Green Guide, a guide to safety at sports grounds, the consequences were minor. When was the Hillsborough Disaster and how many people died? [155], Echoing his 2012 expression of regret[158] former Home Secretary Jack Straw apologised to the families for the failures of his 1997 review of the disaster. [148] The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing in respect of all 96 victims (by majority verdict of 72). When he presented his report in February 1998, he concluded that there was insufficient evidence for a new inquiry into the disaster. The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, at the time of the report, 95 Liverpool F.C. Ofcom also received 177 complaints. [51], Condolences flooded in from across the world, led by the Queen. In response, Trevor Hicks, chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, rejected MacKenzie's apology as "too little, too late", calling him "lowlife, clever lowlife, but lowlife". Some supporters were delayed by roadworks while crossing the Pennines on the M62 motorway which resulted in minor traffic congestion. Supporters laid down flowers and blue and white scarves to show respect for the dead and unity with fellow Merseysiders. Speaking after the disaster, Kelly backed all-seater stadiums, saying "We must move fans away from the ritual of standing on terraces". [31] Mole had supervised numerous police deployments at the stadium in the past. Peter McKay in the Evening Standard wrote that the "catastrophe was caused first and foremost by violent enthusiasm for soccer and in this case the tribal passions of Liverpool supporters [who] literally killed themselves and others to be at the game"[242][243] and published a front-page headline "Police attack 'vile' fans" on 18 April 1989, in which police sources blamed the behaviour of a section of Liverpool fans for the disaster. It was also reported that the jury would be directed to find Mackrell not guilty on the charge of contravening the stadium's safety certificate due to a lack of evidence. [37] At 2:46pm, the BBC's football commentator John Motson had already noticed the uneven distribution of people in the Leppings Lane pens. [313] In another letter written to a Liverpool supporter, also written in 1996, Ingham remarked that people should "shut up about Hillsborough". Anne Williams, who died in 2013, rejected the coroner's decision that the Hillsborough victims, including her son, had died before 3:15pm, citing witness statements that described him showing signs of life at 4:00pm. Of those statements, 116 were amended to remove or change negative comments about South Yorkshire Police. [191], On 9 August 2017, all except Duckenfield appeared at Warrington Magistrates Court. This followed a legal challenge in the High Court by his family to have his treatment withdrawn, a landmark challenge which succeeded in November 1992. [88] The views of both were dismissed by the Taylor report. [267], James Murdoch made a full apology for The Sun's coverage when he appeared at a hearing of the House of Commons Select committee dealing with the News International phone hacking scandal in 2012. [70] On 19 April, the death toll reached 95 when 14-year-old Lee Nicol died in hospital after being taken off life support. [93] The two publications together became known as the Taylor Report.[6]. [148][306] Following continued criticism of Crompton in the wake of the unlawful killing verdict, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings suspended Crompton from duty on 27April 2016. Popper said this was because the victims were either dead, or brain dead, by 3:15pm. [184][185][186], Home Secretary Theresa May announced on 18December 2012 that a new police inquiry would be initiated to examine the possibility of charging agencies other than the police over the Hillsborough deaths. Hillsborough hosted five FA Cup semi-finals in the 1980s. [53] Standing on terraces and the use of perimeter fencing around the pitch, the use of CCTV, the timing of football matches and policing of sporting events were factors for a subsequent inquiry to consider. After the two minutes' silence, bells on civic buildings rang out throughout Merseyside. [57], UEFA President Jacques Georges caused controversy by describing the Liverpool supporters as "beasts",[58] wrongly suggesting that hooliganism was the cause of the disaster, which had occurred less than four years after the Heysel Stadium disaster. 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. [95], Taylor found there was "no provision" for controlling the entry of spectators into the turnstile area. It's too little, too late. FA Cup semi-final Liverpool v Nottingham Forest. September 2012 Hillsborough disaster report (7.25 megabytes), 1915 British football match-fixing scandal, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hillsborough_disaster&oldid=1141795975, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from January 2022, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Articles to be expanded from January 2022, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from December 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Christine Gifford, expert in the field of access to information. [115] Falconer added: "It made the families in the Hillsborough disaster feel after one establishment cover-up, here was another. In July 1992, the government announced a relaxation of the regulation for the lower two English leagues (known now as League One and League Two). The Gymnasium", "Hillsborough Drama Shown Again on ITV Tonight at 10:20pm", "ESPN's Hillsborough documentary can't be aired in the United Kingdom thanks to British laws", "Anne review Maxine Peake exudes raw horror in extraordinary Hillsborough drama", "The investigation of the Hillsborough Disaster by the Health and Safety Executive", The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, 15 April 1989: Inquiry by the Rt. [84] Relatives later failed to have the inquests reopened to allow more scrutiny of police actions and closer examination of the circumstances of individual cases. That it might so occur was foreseeable". A terrible crowd crush claimed the lives of 96 innocen. [112] The terms of reference of his inquiry were limited to "new evidence", that is "evidence which was not available or was not presented to the previous inquiries, courts or authorities. [32] Although Mole could have been assigned the semi-final match's planning despite his transfer, that was not done. The memorial service, led by the Bishop of Liverpool began at 14:45 BST and a two-minute silence (observed across Liverpool and in Sheffield and Nottingham, including public transport coming to a stand-still)[224][225] was held at the time of the disaster twenty years earlier, 15:06 BST. With 96 deaths and 766 injuries, it remains the worst such case in British sporting history.. [26] This 1981 change and other later changes to the stadium invalidated the stadium's safety certificate. In a letter addressed to a victim's parent, Ingham wrote that the disaster was caused by "tanked up yobs". The intensity of the crush broke more crush barriers on the terraces. Such an unrealistic approach gives cause for anxiety as to whether lessons have been learnt".[105]. 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. There were cases of alcoholism, drug abuse, and collapsed marriages involving people who had witnessed the events. [323][324], As the documentary included previously unreleased security camera footage from the stadium on the day of the disaster, it could not be shown in the UK upon initial release due to the 2012 High Court inquest still being in progress. [56], The FA chief executive Graham Kelly, who had attended the match, said the FA would conduct an inquiry into what had happened. Candles were lit for each of the 96 people who died. [252], The story accompanying The Sun headlines claimed "drunken Liverpool fans viciously attacked rescue workers as they tried to revive victims" and "police officers, firemen and ambulance crew were punched, kicked and urinated upon". The Hillsborough memorial at Anfield (featuring the names of the 96 who lost their lives, and an eternal flame) was located next to the Shankly Gates before it was moved to the front of the redeveloped main stand in 2016. "[255], In their history of The Sun, Peter Chippendale and Chris Horrie wrote:[256]. The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. "[318], Further extracts from what Eileen Delaney said can be found on the Hillsborough Justice Campaign website[319] and in Phil Scraton's book Hillsborough: The Truth. [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. Taylor concluded that policing on the day "broke down" and "the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control". The film was aired for the first time in 1996, and has been shown four times since then: in 1998, in 2009, in September 2012 (shortly after the release of the findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel), and again on 1May 2016 on ITV. On 11 April 2009, Liverpool fans sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a tribute to the upcoming anniversary of the disaster before the home game against Blackburn Rovers (which ended in Liverpool winning 40) and was followed by former Liverpool player, Stephen Warnock presenting a memorial wreath to the Kop showing the figure 96 in red flowers. Hillsborough disaster, incident in which a crush of football (soccer) fans ultimately resulted in 97 deaths and hundreds of injuries. On 14 May, more than 20,000 people packed Anfield for a match held in memory of the victims. [36] Many supporters wished to enjoy the day and were in no hurry to enter the stadium too early. Hillsborough first aired in the US on 15April 2014, the 25th anniversary of the disaster. [257] In 1993, he told a House of Commons committee, "I regret Hillsborough. [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. [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. They have no shame", "I live in a part of England that receives first edition of The Times. [13] Public anger over the actions of their force during the second inquests led to the suspension of the SYP chief constable, David Crompton, following the verdict. [139], On 23 October 2012, Norman Bettison resigned with immediate effect as Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, after Maria Eagle MP on the floor of the House and protected by parliamentary privilege, accused him of boasting about concocting a story that all the Liverpool fans were drunk and police were afraid they were going to break down the gates and decided to open them. Hillsborough disaster - YouTube 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. A boycott of advertisers by American Liverpool fans eventually brought about an apology from him. The publication was finally discontinued in 2016, for unrelated reasons. [162] Groome also claimed that match commander Duckenfield was a member of the "highly influential" Dole lodge in Sheffield (the same lodge as Brian Mole, his predecessor). . (Everyone in the office) seemed paralysed"looking like rabbits in the headlights"as one hack described them. How and when all 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster died [188], On 28 June 2017, it was announced that six people were to be charged with offences in relation to the disaster. close panel. Crowd safety was "compromised at every level" and overcrowding issues had been recorded two years earlier. [66][67], By the disaster's 10th anniversary in 1999, at least three people who survived were known to have taken their own lives. Hillsborough inquest: The 14 key questions the jury must answer The referee blew his whistle two minutes into the game to stop play and a minute's silence was held for those who lost their lives at Hillsborough. Determinations and findings of the Hillsborough inquests [159], Kelvin MacKenzie, who wrote the now-infamous "The Truth" front page for the Sun, said that although he was "duped" into publishing his story, that his "heart goes out" to the families of those affected, saying that "It's quite clear today the fans had nothing to do with it". South Yorkshire's police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright appointed chief constable Simon Parr of Cambridgeshire Constabulary to head an investigation into the matter. Fans outside could hear cheering as the teams came on the pitch ten minutes before the match started, and as the match kicked off, but could not gain entrance. Hillsborough inquests: Sarah Hicks 'tried in vain' to save sister Burnham, by then the Sports Minister, addressed the crowd but was heckled by supporters chanting "Justice for the 96". [232] Supporters of Everton, Liverpool's traditional local rivals, were affected, many of them having lost friends and family. During a 2011 debate in the House of Commons, the Labour MP for Liverpool Walton, Steve Rotheram, read out a list of the victims and, as a result, the names were recorded in the Hansard transcripts. On 12 September 2012, it published its report and simultaneously launched a website containing 450,000 pages of material[116] collated from 85 organisations and individuals[117] over two years. The decision angered the families, many of whom felt the inquests were unable to consider the response of the police and other emergency services after that time. It added:. "[114] However, the determination by Stuart-Smith was heavily criticised by the Justice Minister, Lord Falconer, who stated "I am absolutely sure that Sir Murray Stuart-Smith came completely to the wrong conclusion". Jury finds 96 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed in the Hillsborough disaster; . [43] Football players from both teams were ushered to their respective dressing rooms, and told that there would be a 30-minute postponement. Announcing the report to the House of Commons, Home Secretary Jack Straw backed Stuart-Smith's findings and said that "I do not believe that a further inquiry could or would uncover significant new evidence or provide any relief for the distress of those who have been bereaved. A former South Yorkshire police inspector who was on duty at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough when 96 people were crushed to death has said he believed before the match that the. [1] This resulted in overcrowding of those pens and the crush. [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]. Meanwhile, on the pitch, police, stewards and members of the St John Ambulance service were overwhelmed. Importantly, Stuart-Smith's report supported the coroner's assertion that evidence after 3:15pm was inadmissible as "that by 3:15pm the principal cause of death, that is, the crushing, was over. Duckenfield admitted that he had lied in certain statements regarding the causes of the disaster. There was insufficient evidence against the police officer to charge him with the offence. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the two standing-only central pens in the Leppings Lane stand allocated to Liverpool supporters. Had it been reversed, the disaster could well have occurred in a similar manner but to Nottingham supporters". [302], In October 2011, Sir Oliver Popplewell, who had chaired the public inquiry into the 1985 Bradford City stadium fire at Valley Parade that killed 56 people, called on the families of the Hillsborough victims to look at the "quiet dignity and great courage relatives in the West Yorkshire city had shown in the years following the tragedy". The police became a convenient scapegoat, and the Sun newspaper a whipping-boy for daring, albeit in a tasteless fashion, to hint at the wider causes of the incident. The reason given was that the public inquiry in 1990, to which the altered statements were submitted, was not a statutory inquiry, and therefore not a Court of Law. A teenager who died in the Hillsborough disaster tried in vain to save her younger sister as the . [288] However, insiders dismissed any suggestion that a visit by News UK owner Rupert Murdoch to the Times newsroom on the day of the verdict had anything to do with the editorial decision. [241] The Sheffield Star published similar allegations to The Sun, running the headline "Fans in Drunken Attacks on Police". [82] The inquests returned verdicts of accidental death on 26 March 1991, much to the dismay of the bereaved families, who had been hoping for a verdict of unlawful killing or an open verdict, and for manslaughter charges to be brought against the officers who had been present at the disaster. Lord Justice Taylor, Interim Report (Cm 765), The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, 15 April 1989: Inquiry by the Rt. In a post-match briefing to discuss the incident, Sheffield Wednesday chairman Bert McGee remarked: "Bollocksno one would have been killed". It was selected by the Football Association (FA) as a neutral venue to host the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football clubs. [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. [13][1][4][254] The Guardian later wrote that "The claim that supporters higher up the Leppings Lane terrace had urinated on police pulling bodies out of the crush appeared to have roots in the fact that those who were dying or sustaining serious injuries suffered compression asphyxia and many involuntarily urinated, vomited and emptied their bowels as they were crushed. 15 April 1989. In the email, which came to light as the result of a Freedom of Information request, Crompton had said that the families' "version of certain events has become 'the truth' even though it isn't". [219] A candle was lit for each of the 96 victims. [17] From 1974, when these security standards were put in place, crushes occurred in several English stadiums. The panel was chaired by James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool. No, his apology doesn't mean a thing to me. [283], On 27 April 2016, Times staffers in the sports department expressed their outrage over the paper's decision to cover 26 April inquest, which ruled that the 96 dead were unlawfully killed, only on an inside spread and the sports pages, with some in the newspaper claiming there was a "mutiny" in the sports department. A further 20 were from counties adjacent to Merseyside. In March 1997just before the eighth anniversary of the disasterit was reported he had emerged from the condition and was able to communicate using a touch-sensitive pad, and he had been showing signs of awareness of his surroundings for up to three years before. [99] However, on the day of the disaster, "by 2:52pm when gate C was opened, pens 3 and 4 were over-full [] to allow any more into those pens was likely to cause injuries; to allow in a large stream was courting disaster". It was a fundamental mistake. They see themselves whenever possible as victims, and resent their victim status; yet at the same time they wallow in it. [206] An agreement was reached in the case in April 2021, but reporting restrictions were put in place due to the pending trial of Denton, Foster and Metcalf. [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. [110] [65] Despite having stronger ties to Liverpool F.C., Gerry and the Pacemakers' earlier hit "You'll Never Walk Alone" was not used because it had recently been re-recorded for the Bradford City stadium fire appeal. 'You'll never walk alone.'". They will have to answer 14 key questions about the disaster . Liverpool players Ronnie Whelan, Steve Nicol, and former manager Joe Fagan carried the communion bread and wine. [216] Following on from (and out of respect for) the Hillsborough families' decision to conclude official memorials at Anfield with a final service in 2016,[217] it was decided not to hold any further memorials at Spion Kop. Another psychiatric injury claim was brought to the House of Lords, White v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 A.C. 455. But it didn't cause the disaster any more than the sunny day that encouraged people to linger outside the stadium as kick off approached. As a result of the stadium layout and segregation policy, turnstiles that would normally have been used to enter the North Stand from the east were off-limits and all Liverpool supporters had to converge on a single entrance at Leppings Lane. . [62] Other fundraising activities included a Factory Records benefit concert and several fundraising football matches. The Hillsborough Disaster 1989 - YouTube It noted "The weight placed on alcohol in the face of objective evidence of a pattern of consumption modest for a leisure event was inappropriate. As a result of the disaster, Liverpool's scheduled match against Arsenal was delayed from 23April until the end of the season, and the game eventually decided the league title. Human crush during the 1989 FA Cup semi-final. It obviously wasn't a silly mistake; nor was it a simple oversight. It made recommendations on the safety of crowds penned within fences,[21] including that "all exit gates should be manned at all times and capable of being opened immediately from the inside by anyone in an emergency".[22]. [46]:137,138 As this declaration was not immediately performed, confusion reigned over those attempting to administer aid on the pitch. Pearce went on to reflect that if South Yorkshire Police bore any responsibility, it was "for not realising what brutes they had to handle. Merseyside Police Authority confirmed that Bettison would receive an 83,000 pension, unless convicted of a criminal offence. [46]:138140 Others who did leave their vehicles were then faced with the obstacles inherent in placing distance between themselves and their equipment. This game was Liverpool's first appearance on the football field since the disaster two weeks earlier. [52], Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Home Secretary Douglas Hurd visited Hillsborough the day after the disaster and met survivors. A third legal case which resulted from the Hillsborough disaster was Airedale N.H.S. It has taken more than two decades, 400,000 documents and a two-year inquiry to discover to my horror that it would have been far more accurate had I written the headline The Lies rather than The Truth. [46]:142 They buried their dead, comforted the bereaved and succoured the injured. [3] The match was abandoned and restaged at Old Trafford in Manchester on 7 May 1989; Liverpool won and went on to win that season's FA Cup. Topman stated that the T-shirt was in reference to a Bob Marley song re-released in 1996 and apologised and withdrew the item. "[314][315] There have since been calls to have Ingham stripped of his knighthood. [149][150] Upon receiving the April 2016 verdict, Hillsborough Family Support Group chair Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James was killed in the disaster, said:[151][152][153]. A total of 42 ambulances arrived at the stadium. In total, ninety-seven people died as a result of injuries incurred during the disaster. [234][235] In April 1989, Bradford City and Lincoln City held a friendly match to benefit the victims of Hillsborough. It was brought by police officers on duty against the chief constable who was said to have been vicariously liable for the disaster. Many uninjured fans assisted the injured; several attempted CPR and others tore down advertising hoardings to use as stretchers. This article was presumably published before there were any reports that people had been killed. [100], The report noted that the official capacity of the central pens was 2,200, that the Health and Safety Executive found this should have been reduced to 1,693 due to crush barriers and perimeter gates,[101] but actually an estimated 3,000 people were in the pens around 3:00pm.