"The investigation of the Hillsborough disaster by the Health and Safety Executive. Well, if you look at the Liverpool end, to the right of the goal, there's hardly anybody on those steps...that's it. 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"[228][229] 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. [277], 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. [3][7] Reporting in 2012, it confirmed Taylor's 1990 criticisms and revealed details about the extent of police efforts to shift blame onto fans, the role of other emergency services, and the error of the first coroner's inquests. Part of this flawed psychological state is that they cannot accept that they might have made any contribution to their misfortunes, but seek rather to blame someone else for it, thereby deepening their sense of shared tribal grievance against the rest of society. In a post-match briefing to discuss the incident, Sheffield Wednesday chairman Bert McGee remarked: "Bollocks—no one would have been killed". [267], 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. "[256] Trevor Kavanagh, the political editor at the time of the Hillsborough disaster, said that he was "not sorry at all" about the reporting and supported his former boss Kelvin MacKenzie, stating that "we were clearly misled about the events and the authorities, including the police, actively concealed the truth". No, his apology doesn't mean a thing to me. [16], 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. 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. [299][300] 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. The Football Spectators Act does not cover Scotland, but the Scottish Premier League chose to make all-seater stadiums a requirement of league membership. [230], In Liverpool local journalist John Williams of the Liverpool Daily Post wrote in an article titled "I Blame the Yobs"[231] that "The gatecrashers wreaked their fatal havoc ... Their uncontrolled fanaticism and mass hysteria ... literally squeezed the life out of men, women and children ... yobbism at its most base ... Scouse killed Scouse for no better reason than 22 men were kicking a ball". Transcripts of the proceedings and evidence that was produced during the hearings were published at the Hillsborough Inquests official website. The event also raised cash for the Marina Dalglish Appeal which was contributed towards a radiotherapy centre at University Hospital in Aintree.[217][218]. Is there, perhaps, a lesson there for the Hillsborough campaigners? [50] The following Sunday, a link of football scarves spanning the 1 mile (1.6 km) distance across Stanley Park from Goodison Park to Anfield was created, with the final scarf in position at 3:06 pm. 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)[211][212] was held at the time of the disaster twenty years earlier, 15:06 BST. In 2013 Crompton sent an email in which he said the families' "version of certain events has become 'the truth' even though it isn't". They organised a sensible compensation scheme and moved on. [122], The evidence it released online, included altered police reports. In order to prosecute Mr Duckenfield, now 72, prosecutors will apply to have a stay imposed by a judge after a private prosecution over the Hillsborough disaster in 1999 removed. [6] Families rejected the findings,[3] and fought to have the case re-opened. Blaming of Liverpool fans persisted even after the Taylor Report of 1990, which found that the main cause was a failure of control by South Yorkshire Police (SYP). [31], Three chartered trains transported Liverpool supporters to Sheffield for a match fixture[b] in 1988, but only one such train ran in 1989. As of 2019, he was still alive, but has been confined to a wheelchair as a result of his injuries.[69][70]. [83], Ashton and Phillips were not the only doctors present at the disaster not to be called to give evidence to the Popper inquests. David is related to Thomas A Duckenfield and Regina Duckenfield Woods as well as 3 additional people. "[274], The vice-chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, Philip Hammond, said he wanted all football fans to boycott the magazine, saying, "I am going to write to every fanzine in the country—including Liverpool F.C. With 96 deaths & 766 injuries, it has the highest death toll in British sporting history. 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 4–0) and was followed by former Liverpool player, Stephen Warnock presenting a memorial wreath to the Kop showing the figure 96 in red flowers. Jack Straw, then the Home Secretary, launched a limited probe in 1997 but concluded that new inquests were not warranted. [60], In May 1989, a charity version of the Gerry and the Pacemakers song "Ferry Cross the Mersey" was released in aid of those affected. South Yorkshire coroner Dr Stefan Popper limited the main inquests to events up to 3:15 pm on the day of the disaster—nine minutes after the match was halted and the crowd spilled onto the pitch. [37], When the gates were opened, thousands of fans entered a narrow tunnel leading from the rear of the terrace into two overcrowded central pens (pens 3 and 4), creating pressure at the front. The match was abandoned but was restaged at Old Trafford in Manchester on 7 May 1989 with Liverpool winning and going on to win the FA Cup. ... [T]here was no effective leadership either from control or on the pitch to harness and organise rescue efforts. Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool's manager at the time of the disaster, read a passage from the Bible, "Lamentations of Jeremiah". Other fans were pulled to safety by fans in the West Stand above the Leppings Lane terrace. We had the media against us, as well as the establishment. The findings concluded that 164 witness statements had been altered. 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. David Duckenfield. Two sisters, three pairs of brothers, and a father and son were among those who died,[65] as were two men about to become fathers for the first time: 25-year-old Steven Brown of Wrexham[71] and 30-year-old Peter Thompson of Widnes. followed in April 2017 on the eve of the 28th anniversary of the disaster after a column by Kelvin MacKenzie concerning Everton footballer Ross Barkley. [88], Taylor concluded that in responding to the disaster there had been no fault on the part of the emergency services (St John Ambulance, South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service and fire brigade). HFD – A brief but fact filled reposte of the myths of the hillsborough disaster. [119] The report concluded that the then Conservative MP for Sheffield Hallam, Irvine Patnick, passed inaccurate and untrue information from the police to the press. It has since fuelled persistent and unsustainable assertions about drunken fan behaviour". His column in The Sunday Times on 23 April 1989, included the text: "For the second time in half a decade a large body of Liverpool supporters has killed people ... the shrine in the Anfield goalmouth, the cursing of the police, all the theatricals, come sweetly to a city which is already the world capital of self-pity. [41], 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.