Hillsborough - Charges brought against six individuals

[Graham]

Criminal charges have been brought against six individuals, including former senior police officers, over the Hillsborough disaster.
They are:
:: David Duckenfield, who was the match commander for South Yorkshire Police on the day of the disaster
:: Norman Bettison, a former officer with South Yorkshire Police
:: Graham Henry Mackrell, who was Sheffield Wednesday Football Club's company secretary and safety officer at the time of the disaster
:: Peter Metcalf, a solicitor who acted for the South Yorkshire Police
:: Former chief superintendent Donald Denton of South Yorkshire Police
:: Former detective chief inspector Alan Foster of South Yorkshire Police

Duckenfield has been charged with the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 of the 96 Liverpool FC fans who died at the FA Cup semi-final.
Bettison is accused of four counts of misconduct in public office.
Denton, Foster and Metcalf are all charged with doing acts with intent to pervert the course of justice.
Mackrell is charged with three offences relating to health and safety and safety at sports grounds.

[Graham]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/28/hillsborough-six-people-including-two-senior-police-officers-charged?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[ckn]

And that's why proper inquiries and inquests are so important. About bloody time. 

[Robin Evans]

Got there in the end..... shouldn't have taken nearly 30 bloody years

[JohnM]

Huge step forward and very welcome. Not quite at the end, sadly, as there is still time for the accused to claim unfit to plead owing to ill health. 

It's a warning, though, to those who think leaving or retiring from the police absolves them from being held responsible for misconduct. However, I would like to see the habit that public officials  have of escaping disciplinary proceedings  by retiring ended altogether. 

[Graham]

This is about justice for all these victims and their long suffering families.

This has been a long time coming as Robin says above.

But for ordinary people campaigning vocally and ceaselessly for justice, this day would never have come.

Remember this?

 

[gingerjon]

I doubt we'll see real justice in any meaningful sense but this is good news.  Even the fact that people are being charged is some slight nudge in the direction of responsibility, not only for Hillsborough but all public actions.

And, anyone, tempted to rail against 'human rights' any time might want to study about exactly how the Hillsborough families were able to get the truth out.

[GUBRATS]

Undoubtably the aftermath and the behaviour of the police brings forth questions that need answering , and potentially criminal charges 

I do however feel sympathy for Mr Duckinfield , being placed into a position were whatever decision he made would be construed as wrong , he made his decision because he feared lives were at risk 

Many people I've spoken to like myself are fully aware of how situations like the one faced by Mr Duckinfield were sometimes engineered by football fans of several clubs in that era