Hillsborough inquest: the real truth after 27 years

Twenty-four thousand Liverpool fans witnessed what happened at Hillsborough but it's taken 27 years to expose the injustice Liverpool has lived with; today finally and officially acknowledged by a court.
A jury at Warrington Coroner's Court decided by a majority verdict that the 96 victims of the Hillsborough Stadium disaster had been killed unlawfully.

[@gwyneth7812]

Thank you Mr Hicks, you are right, society will benefit from all of your perseverance and determination for truth and justice.

[@maureenfitzsimmons212]

How these people have kept their sanity & dignity throughout this excruciatingly difficult time ? Today stands for the first day of Justice & the bearer peace for all x x x

[@chrisgreen6259]

I think Alex's last comments around are very pertinent - why should the real truth take this long to come to light? How many people are hurt by lies, cover ups or incompetence? It makes me wonder if things are better now. We have tax avoiders robbing the British tax system and potentially pushing thousands into poverty and probable death. Where is the judicial review for them?

[@RJM1011]

Just like the Dunblane cover up and lies that KILLED my little baby pity it took 27 years for these people that lost loved ones to get the truth. :(

[@ianlogan1559]

justice at last now it's time to bring those who lied about that day the sun paper will never be sorry for what they printed

[@infoillness4222]

The police thrive on confrontation and their denial in this instance despite overwhelming evidence against them gives some insight in to their "mindset"...( unfortunately ).

[@manicminer4127]

Too ill, or too old? WTF? If the person is still alive, then prosecute. NO EXCUSES.

[@SiVlog1989]

When they did a report after the findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel were published, amongst the things they discovered was that the Sheffield Archive showed through the documents of confidential Police, Legal and Government documents that the disaster was never properly investigated. One of the most damming pieces of evidence was related to Norman Betisen, who at the time was a Chief Inspector for South Yorkshire Police. In a meeting with senior officers, he laid out the South Yorkshire Police strategy: "We're going to put the blame for this where it should, where it ought to be, on the drunken, ticketless, Liverpool supporters. We now have to go out there to find evidence to show that this is the case." It was this, coupled with other mud slinging by the South Yorkshire Police Federation that culminated in the infamous front page headline on The Sun, The Truth. The way witness statements were written by the ordinary officers on the ground also played a part. Rather than writing witness statements the same way as other witnesses would, the officers were told to write their "recollections" on plain paper. Of these, 116 had critical comments about the policing operation erased. One of which, from PC Ray Powell (who was on Plain Clothes Duty that day), talked about the lack of police officers at the gate, saying: "The first thing I said was, 'where're all the Bobbies, there's hardly anybody there [at the entrance on Leppings Lane). There was usually a large police presence, usually forming some sort of cordon..." The deleted comments had the desired effect (for South Yorkshire Police) in shifting the blame onto the fans. The problem further down the line, even after inquest after inquest, for the ones in charge that day was what was recorded, as Panorama explained: "Hillsborough was a disaster like no other. It was captured by 8 BBC cameras, the Police had CCTV and a mobile camera unit. The BBC footage was later released to the police and the victims lawyers and then locked away, considered 'too distressing for broadcast'. 24 years [at the time of production] on, we've been able to analyse it. It reveals how things went wrong from the start at Hillsborough and continued going wrong for longer than has ever been admitted." Given their huge role in even having the families and friends of those who died having to wait this long for some sort of accountability, The Sun should be shutdown in disgrace (just like its sister publication, The News of the World) and those who worked there be banned from working in journalism ever again

[@onlythetruthmatters4529]

how could it take 27 years?

[@mysticalpineapple7263]

OnlyThe TruthMatters double jeopardy

[@gigglemaniarunninwild2207]

The fans that forced their way in......were they ever held responsible?

[@annhudson9506]

Did you not watch this properly? No fans forced their way in, the police, the FA, the ground, everybody got it wrong! The fans were not to blame! End of!!

[@timothycwiek7244]

It's obvious the Liverpool fans weren't to blame. If they were misbehaving, they would have sneaked into the upper-level seating areas, prior to kick-off. That didn't happen. Instead, they went like lambs to slaughter into those awful pens. May the poor souls RIP.

[@abbeyroadb1]

Justice at last

[@TakerKaneanite619]

True justice will be this month, when Dickhead Duckenfield finally gets punished for his negligence and almost 30 years of cover ups, lies and slander.

[@tomlinid]

I doubt anyone will be brought to justice now I bet many of the people who were in charge are in their 70's or 80's or are dead.

[@spikejoseph5482]

That's why it was only brought up now. Fucking cowards.

[@TakerKaneanite619]

Duckenfield is still alive and he will get what he has had coming to him, for 30 years. He will die in prison, no doubt.

[@matbroomfield]

I have empathy with the policeman. It was an unprecedented situation for which nobody could possibly be adequately trained. But what I find unforgivable, is the subsequent cover up and smearing of the victims and other spectators. This reminds me of the truism - "Remember, the police are not on your side."

[@swf1991]

+Mat Broomfield I don't have empathy with him at all. Had he apologised immediately afterwards and explained he wasn't up to the job and taken the blame for it and not immediately blamed what he called ''drunk and ticketless fans.'' This man should be put on trial for gross negligence and sent to prison.

[@matbroomfield]

+shaun fagan You know in this world that there is NO WAY he could ever accept culpability by apologising. I'm absolutely certain that that would have been the advice of his superiors, any legal representation AND the police union. I don't know what the cause of the surge was. Was it drunk and ticketless fans?

[@swf1991]

No it was not drunk ticketless fans. Best not to comment on things you have no background knowledge on. Take care.

[@matbroomfield]

+shaun fagan No, you're right, I should only have conversations about matters that I have expertise in. And in that vein, I'm sure that you've never expressed an opinion about politics, banking or the war in the middle east?

[@matbroomfield]

+9th Marquess Thank you for the information. I stand corrected.