After analysing more than 400,000 pages of documents over a period of 18 months, on Wednesday the Hillsborough Independent Panel released a 395-page report revealing their findings. A mass of information was uncovered by the panel, but for the families of the 96 victims, the two most important words were “the truth”.
The Truth, of course, was the Sun’s infamous headline on 19 April 1989 – just four days after the Hillsborough Disaster. The paper reported claims by South Yorkshire Police that Liverpool fans had pick-pocketed the victims and attacked police officers, publishing this information as fact. Other newspapers had printed the same information less prominently, stressing that it was the police’s version of events. On Wednesday, the Hillsborough Independent Panel made it abundantly clear that this version of events was a lie.
The lies were propagated by South Yorkshire Police, in an attempt to deflect blame for the tragedy onto the fans. The police also claimed that the Liverpool fans were drunk, that a vast number of fans had showed up ticketless and that those fans with tickets had showed up late, causing delays getting into the stadium. The Hillsborough report exposed those untruths once and for all, stating: “From the mass of documents, television and CCTV coverage disclosed to the panel there is no evidence to support these allegations”. The facts have finally been published for everyone to see, and the Liverpool fans were not to blame for the tragedy that unfolded at Hillsborough.
It has taken 23 years too long for the truth to come out about Hillsborough, but finally the families of the 96 can see the denigration of their lost loved ones laid to rest. During the FA Cup semi-final fixture between Chelsea and Tottenham in April, a small minority of Chelsea fans interrupted a minute’s silence for Hillsborough by chanting “murderers”. It was disgraceful behaviour and hopefully those bigoted fools who still believe Liverpool fans were to blame for the Hillsborough Disaster have been given a harsh wake-up call by the panel’s report.
The real truth is out there now and an array of apologies have come forward in light of the report. First, David Cameron and Ed Miliband apologised in Parliament. The Prime Minister and the Labour leader were followed by South Yorkshire Police, Sheffield Wednesday, the FA, the Sun and others, including Irvine Patnick and Kelvin MacKenzie. Patnick, the MP for Sheffield Hallam in 1989, backed up South Yorkshire Police’s false reports and MacKenzie, then editor of the Sun, published those lies under that notorious headline. From those two in particular, apologies are not enough. Labour MP John Mann has called for Patnick to be stripped of his knighthood, while Trevor Hicks, a member of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, rejected MacKenzie’s apology, calling him a “lowlife”.
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Other apologies, such as the apologies from David Cameron and the FA, have been welcomed. But the apologies, like the truth, are just the start. As Trevor Hicks said on Wednesday: “The truth is out today, justice starts tomorrow”. Cameron has already stated that the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, will look over the Hillsborough report and in light of new evidence, it is highly likely Grieve will apply to the High Court to have the original Hillsborough inquest overturned. The original inquest returned an accidental death verdict, with coroner Dr Stefan Popper claiming that the 96 had all either died by 3:15pm or were beyond saving by this point. Since the Hillsborough panel found that 41 of the 96 victims had the potential to be saved, it would be surprising if a new inquest was not held.
South Yorkshire Police have already reopened investigations into their force’s conduct over the disaster and they are considering referring themselves to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. An investigation into West Yorkshire Chief Constable Norman Bettison, who was off-duty at Hillsborough but took part in an internal inquiry after the tragedy, has also begun. The families of the Hillsborough victims want those who were to blame for the disaster – and those who tried to cover up the truth – to be held to account, whether that means criminal prosecution or resignation.
When I wrote about Hillsborough in June, I said that the wait for the victims’ families was almost over. After Wednesday, their wait for the truth is finally over, but they are still waiting for justice. Revealing the truth was an important first step and the families can now pursue justice with relief and renewed hope.
