Hillsborough disaster: Families profoundly failed, say police

Police forces have apologised for "profound failings" which have "continued to blight" relatives of victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

On behalf of all 43 forces, police chiefs have promised "cultural change".

They admitted "policing got it badly wrong" in the aftermath of the fatal stadium crush and said a range of key lessons had been learned.

Ninety-seven Liverpool supporters died as a result of the April 1989 disaster at Sheffield's Hillsborough ground.

The National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing published a joint response to a report published in 2017, which consulted the families.

It is the first reply from a major public body to the report, published by former Bishop of Liverpool James Jones.

In his 117-page report, he said: "The experience of the Hillsborough families demonstrates the need for a substantial change in the culture of public bodies."

Bishop Jones said "a change in attitude" was needed to ensure the "pain and suffering" of the families - who spent decades fighting for justice - was not repeated.

He also called for a charter for bereaved families, the right to publicly-funded legal representation and a "duty of candour" for police officers, amid a series of other recommendations.

In response, Chief Constable Andy Marsh, the College of Policing's chief executive officer, said: "For what happened, as a senior policing leader, I profoundly apologise. Policing got it badly wrong."

The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and College of Policing said the code of ethics used by forces would be reviewed, with a duty of candour becoming a key theme.

Bishop Jones had said the response of South Yorkshire Police to criticism over Hillsborough showed "institutional defensiveness" and recommended training for senior officers to ensure an "open and transparent approach" to inquiries. 

A first inquest verdict of accidental death, which the families campaigned against for more than 20 years, was quashed in December 2012.

In 2016 a new inquest jury found the victims had been unlawfully killed due to gross negligence manslaughter by the police match commander Ch Supt David Duckenfield.

And, last year, the South Yorkshire and West Midlands police forces agreed to pay damages to more than 600 people over a cover-up which followed the disaster.

At the time, South Yorkshire's Acting Chief Constable Lauren Poultney said the force acknowledged that "serious errors and mistakes were made" by its officers "both on 15 April 1989 and during the subsequent investigations".

Solicitors acting for the families said they hoped the settlement would "put an end to any fresh attempts to rewrite the record and wrongly claim that there was no cover-up".

Bishop Jones's report also said the first inquests failed to accurately establish how the supporters came about their deaths, and families were unable to successfully challenge their "flawed basis" because their legal representation was inadequate.

Ch Con Marsh, who is from Liverpool, said: "What we're talking about is cultural change and cultural change takes a long time, but my goodness we have started."

He said new police recruits would study the report into the experiences of the Hillsborough families. New guidance for family liaison officers will be issued, while guidance on disaster victim identification has also been revised.

There have previously been calls for a Hillsborough Law, which would help victims of future disasters and atrocities.

Merseyside Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said she supported calls for the legislation, to "rebalance the scales of justice and ensure these principles are enshrined throughout our system".

However, NPCC chairman Martin Hewitt said legislation was a matter for Parliament.

He said: "What we have really focused on is doing that which is really within our power.

"The issue of candour is very clear within the charter for bereaved families and it will be incorporated explicitly in the review of the code of ethics."

Ch Con Marsh added: "We have been robust as possible and it's for Parliament to make any legislation that they feel is necessary."

Mr Hewitt said the response to the 2017 report had not been published earlier due to legal processes and added it was important to ensure a full response was made.

But he said he "absolutely accepted that every week or month that has gone by has added to the pain of the families and not being able the whole process to conclusion".

Among those who died at Hillsborough was 18-year-old James Aspinall.

His mother Margaret, who campaigned for justice for the victims, said she was disappointed the response had taken so long to come.

She said: "I remember writing to someone in government to say 'I hope this report doesn't get put on a shelf gathering dust for years like other things in the past have done'.

"We are now into 2023. How long does it take to read a report to come out with your findings of what you think should happen?"

A spokeswoman for the Hillsborough Law Now campaign said the group was "extremely disappointed" with the police response.

While welcoming the apology, she said it made "no reference to a change in legislation which would put an immediate stop to families battling against the state".

An actual law would mean "the culture of denial that we have seen in other inquiries, such as infected blood and Grenfell, would be minimised".

Pete Weatherby KC, who represents many of the Hillsborough families, said "everyone knows" a Hillsborough Law would be a "game changer".

He added it was "tiresome to watch another report which says the right things but achieves very little".

The government is yet to respond to the report but Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the timing had been impacted by the need to avoid the risk of prejudice during any criminal proceedings.

She added: "The government remains absolutely committed to responding to the bishop's report as soon as practicable and our focus now is on engaging in a meaningful way with the bereaved families of the Hillsborough disaster prior to publishing the government's over-arching response."

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