Jump to content

Hillsborough Files


TF S4DK

Recommended Posts

I have a feeling that this might be something that runs and runs over the next few months....

Ten victims of the Hillsborough disaster had body tissue secretly removed and stored.

Bereaved families were not told about the samples which pathologists took from vital organs within 48 hours of the tragedy.

Details of the procedures were found in secret papers being examined by the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

The HIP considered the revelation so important that it is informing the affected relatives now instead of waiting until its full report is published next year.

Ten families were sent hand-delivered letters on Monday by the panel informing them about the samples.

Sheila Coleman, of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, said: “This proves things are being kept from the families and have been for 22 years.”

Margaret Aspinall, of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said: “Surely it’s common sense that they should have been told about this before now.

“The next thing is to find out what these tissue samples are, because nobody seems to know at the moment.”

Taking tissue without notifying relatives was legal at the time of the tragedy – which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool FC fans in 1989 – but was banned under the Human Tissue Act 2004.

Furious Liverpool council leader Joe Anderson slammed the body samples revelation as a “scandal”.

He added: “Victims were interfered with without the permission of their families. I think people will want to know who was responsible and will want them sacked if they are still in a job.”

It is understood the tissue was taken during postmortems to help establish the cause of death of supporters who did not show obvious signs of being crushed.

The panel has decided not to reveal which organs the 10 small samples were taken from following the tragedy during the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest in Sheffield.

In a statement, HIP chairman the Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Rev James Jones, said the panel would ensure the tissue is dealt with “respectfully” and in accordance with the wishes of relatives.

He added: “I am sorry this additional distress has been caused to some of the Hillsborough families who have suffered greatly already.

“The panel believes that it is right that affected families should have the chance to find out about this now.”

HIP member Dr Bill Kirkup said: “We are dealing with this as sensitively as we can.”

Professor Bharat Jasani, head of pathology at Cardiff University, said tissue samples are usually no more than one centimetre squared, adding: “A pathologist may feel the need to examine further the cause of death when a visual examination is not enough.

“A sample would allow a thorough investigation under the microscope.”

The Mirror launched the Justice for the 96 campaign in 1996 to support the victims’ families as they battle to find out the truth about the disaster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thing will rumble on and on and the deeper it goes, the more mucky things will come out,

until all sides are willing to take a degree of blame, the ill feeling will continue, and probably rightly so,

(and this isn't a sly comment by the way, all football fans who caused disruption at games in the late 60's 70's and 80's are to blame, the authorities who erected perimiter fencing are to blame, the goverment, the clubs themselves, and the police on duty that day are all to blame to some degree,)

what happened at Hillsborough was always going to happen sooner or later, it was just a case of bad luck that it was Liverpool fans at that game who had to suffer, that wasn't the first time fans were crushed at games, (obviously not to that degree and with those tragic consequences)

the problem is nobody cared enough to say, "ok, maybe this isnt the right way to treat people"

R.I.P to the 96

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wtf, organs were taken from victims without permission, what type of nonsense?!

You can only infer the worst when consecutive

Governments have sort to not allow any proper enquiry into the matter.

Justice and democracy only works in a certain way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club has released a statement in relation to today's report.

Sheffield Wednesday FC welcomes the release of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report and would like to acknowledge the enormous amount of hard work by all involved during what was, and continues to be, an extremely emotive process.

Throughout the compilation stage, the club has worked closely with the panel and the other donating organisations to ensure that, in line with the ethos of maximum disclosure, we have been totally transparent.

Sheffield Wednesday would also like to record its gratitude for the thoroughly dignified manner with which the Hillsborough Family Support Group and its representatives conducted themselves throughout all levels of consultation with the club.

Since the acquisition of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club in December 2010 and the subsequent decision of the previous board to dissolve the former parent company Sheffield Wednesday PLC , chairman Milan Mandaric and the current board of directors have adopted a policy of complete compliance with the requests of the Hillsborough Independent Panel and on behalf of the club would like to offer our sincere condolences and an apology to all the families who have suffered as a consequence of the tragic events of 15 April, 1989.

We can only hope that the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report goes some way to providing the closure sought by all those involved.

The thoughts of everyone at Sheffield Wednesday FC remain with the 96 Liverpool supporters who lost their lives, their families, and the wider Liverpool community who have all been affected so deeply by the disaster of 23 years ago.

Hillsborough report reveals South Yorkshire Police made 'strenuous efforts' to deflect blame on to Liverpool fans

An independent report into the Hillsborough stadium disaster has concluded that South Yorkshire Police and the ambulance service made "strenuous attempts to deflect blame" for the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters onto the fans.

In the 394-page report the panel has shed new light on the disaster, including:

• Police carried out criminal record checks on the deceased in an attempt to "impugn their reputations"

• Senior officers privately discussed the "animalistic behaviour" of "drunken marauding fans"

• Evidence that a number of the dead survived "for a significant period" beyond the 3.15pm cut-off point imposed at the original inquest

• 116 of the 164 South Yorkshire Police statements were doctored to remove unfavourable comments

• South Yorkshire Ambulance Service was misleading when it claimed criticism of its conduct made by doctors who were present was factually inaccurate

• There was "no evidence of substance" to support the police account that alcohol and fan aggression played a part in the disaster

• Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher expressed concern in Cabinet that the first inquiry into the disaster contained "devastating criticism of the police".

• The weight placed on blood alcohol levels among the dead was "inappropriate"

The report concludes that police and ambulance service statements were doctored in an attempt to avoid responsibility for the failings of crowd control that were the primary cause of the disaster in April 1989.

The Hillsborough Independent Panel also raises "profound concerns about the conduct an appropriateness of the inquests".

The report concludes that the decision of the coroner to rule that all 96 victims died in the same way, and to impose a 3.15pm cut-off time on the inquest, was "unsustainable".

The panel said there was evidence that a number of those that died were alive after the 3.15pm cut-off. The original inquest recorded 96 cases of accidental death, but the families of the deceased have called for those verdicts to be quashed.

In the aftermath, the police claimed that violent behaviour by drunken Liverpool supporters who arrived without tickets was the primary cause of the disaster.

Having reviewed more than 450,000 previously unseen documents, the panel concludes: "The evidence shows conclusively that Liverpool fans neither caused nor contributed to the deaths of 96 men, women and children".

The chairman of the panel, the Bishop of Liverpool the Rt Rev James Jones, said: "The documents disclosed to and analysed by the panel show that the tragedy should never have happened.

"There were clear operational failures in response to the disaster and in its aftermath there were strenuous attempts to deflect the blame onto the fans. The panels detailed reports shows how vulnerable victims, survivors and their families are when transparency and accountability are compromised."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

David Cameron's full statement on the Hillsborough panel's report

Today the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Reverend James Jones, is publishing the report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

The disaster at the Hillsborough football stadium on 15th April 1989 was one of the greatest peacetime tragedies of the last century. 96 people died as a result of a crush in the Leppings Lane Terrace at the FA Cup Semi-Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

There was a public Inquiry at the time by Lord Justice Taylor which found – and I quote – that the main cause of the disaster was "a failure of police control."

But the Inquiry didn't have access to all the documents that have since become available. It didn't properly examine the response of the emergency services. It was followed by a deeply controversial inquest and by a media version of events that sought to blame the fans.

As a result, the families have not heard the truth and have not found justice. That is why the previous government – and in particular – the Rt Hon Member for Leigh was right to set up this Panel. And it is why this government insisted that no stone should be left unturned and that all papers should be made available to the Bishop of Liverpool and his team.

Mr Speaker, in total over 450,000 pages of evidence have been reviewed. It was right that the families should see the Report first. As a result the government has only had a very limited amount of time to study the evidence so far.

But it is already very clear that many of the report's findings are deeply distressing.

There are three areas in particular. The failure of the authorities to help protect people. The attempt to blame the fans. And the doubt cast on the original Coroner's Inquest. Let me take each in turn.

First, there is new evidence about how the authorities failed. There is a trail of new documents which show the extent to which the safety of the crowd at Hillsborough was "compromised at every level." The ground failed to meet minimum standards and the "deficiencies were well known". The turnstiles were inadequate. The ground capacity had been significantly over-calculated. The crush barriers failed to meet safety standards. There had been a crush at exactly the same match the year before. And today's report shows clearly that lessons had not been learnt.

The report backs up again the key finding of the Taylor Report on police failure. But it goes further by revealing for the first time the shortcomings of the ambulance and emergency services response. The major incident plan was not fully implemented. Rescue attempts were held back by failures of leadership and co-ordination. And, significantly, new documents today show there was a delay from the emergency services when people were being crushed and killed.

Second, the families have long believed that some of the authorities attempted to create a completely unjust account of events that sought to blame the fans for what happened. Mr Speaker, the families were right.

The evidence in today's report includes briefings to the media and attempts by the Police to change the record of events. On the media: several newspapers reported false allegations that fans were drunk and violent and stole from the dead. The Sun's report sensationalised these allegations under a banner headline "The Truth." This was clearly wrong and caused huge offence, distress and hurt.

News International has co-operated with the Panel and, for the first time, today's report reveals that the source for these despicable untruths was a Sheffield news agency reporting conversations with South Yorkshire Police and Irvine Patnick, the then MP for Sheffield Hallam.

The Report finds that this was part of police efforts – and I quote — "to develop and publicise a version of events that focused on … allegations of drunkenness, ticketlessness and violence." In terms of changing the record of events, we already know that police reports were significantly altered but the full extent was not drawn to Lord Justice Taylor's attention.

Today's Report finds that 164 statements were significantly amended – and 116 explicitly removed negative comments about the policing operation — including its lack of leadership.

The report also makes important findings about particular actions taken by the police and coroner while investigating the deaths. There is new evidence which shows that police officers carried out police national computer checks on those who had died in an attempt – and I quote from the report — "to impugn the reputations of the deceased."

The Coroner took blood alcohol levels from all of the deceased including children. The Panel finds no rationale whatsoever for what it regards as an "exceptional" decision. The report states clearly that the attempt of the inquest to draw a link between blood alcohol and late arrival was "fundamentally flawed". And that alcohol consumption was "unremarkable and not exceptional for a social or leisure occasion".

Mr Speaker, over all these years questions have been raised about the role of the government – including whether it did enough to uncover the truth. It is certainly true that some of the language in the government papers published today was insensitive. But having been through every document – and every government document including Cabinet Minutes will be published — the Panel found no evidence of any government trying to conceal the truth.

At the time of the Taylor Report the then Prime Minister was briefed by her private secretary that the defensive and – I quote — "close to deceitful" behaviour of senior South Yorkshire officers was "depressingly familiar." And it is clear that the then government thought it right that the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire should resign. But as the Rt Hon Member for Leigh has rightly highlighted, governments then and since have simply not done enough to challenge publicly the unjust and untrue narrative that sought to blame the fans.

Third, and perhaps most significantly of all, the Bishop of Liverpool's report presents new evidence which casts significant doubt over the adequacy of the original Inquest. The Coroner — on the advice of pathologists — believed that victims suffered traumatic asphyxia leading to unconsciousness within seconds and death within a few minutes. As a result he asserted that beyond 3.15pm there were no actions that could have changed the fate of the victims and he limited the scope of the Inquest accordingly.

But by analysing post mortem reports the Panel have found that 28 did not have obstruction of blood circulation and 31 had evidence of heart and lungs continuing to function after the crush. This means that individuals in those groups could have had potentially reversible asphyxia beyond 3.15pm in contrast to the findings of the Coroner and a subsequent Judicial Review. And the Panel states clearly that "it is highly likely that what happened to those individuals after 3.15pm was significant" in determining whether they died.

Mr Speaker, the conclusions of this report will be harrowing for many of the families affected. Anyone who has lost a child knows the pain never leaves you. But to read a report years afterwards that says – and I quote "a swifter, more appropriate, better focused and properly equipped response had the potential to save more lives" can only add to the pain.

It is for the Attorney General to decide whether to apply to the High Court to quash the original inquest and seek a new one. In this capacity he acts independently of government. And he will need to examine the evidence himself. But it is clear to me that the new evidence in today's report raises vital questions which must be examined. And the Attorney General has assured me that he will examine this new evidence immediately and reach a decision as fast as possible. But ultimately it is for the High Court to decide.

It is also right that the House should have an opportunity to debate the issues raised in this report fully. My Rt Hon Friend the Home Secretary will be taking forward a debate in Government time. And this will happen when the House returns in October.

Mr Speaker, I want to be very clear about the view the government takes about these findings and why after 23 years this matters so much, not just for the families but for Liverpool and for our country as a whole. Mr Speaker what happened that day – and since – was wrong. It was wrong that the responsible authorities knew Hillsborough did not meet minimum safety standards and yet still allowed the match to go ahead. It was wrong that the families have had to wait for so long – and fight so hard – just to get to the truth. And it was wrong that the police changed the records of what happened and tried to blame the fans.

We ask the police to do difficult and often very dangerous things on our behalf. And South Yorkshire Police is a very different organisation today from what it was then. But we do the many, many honourable police men and women a great disservice if we try to defend the indefensible.

It was also wrong that neither Lord Justice Taylor nor the Coroner looked properly at the response of the other emergency services. Again, these are dedicated people who do extraordinary things to serve the public.

But the evidence from today's report makes very difficult reading.

Mr Speaker, with the weight of the new evidence in this Report, it is right for me today as Prime Minister to make a proper apology to the families of the 96 for all they have suffered over the past 23 years. Indeed, the new evidence that we are presented with today makes clear that these families have suffered a double injustice. The injustice of the appalling events — the failure of the state to protect their loved ones and the indefensible wait to get to the truth. And the injustice of the denigration of the deceased – that they were somehow at fault for their own deaths.

On behalf of the Government – and indeed our country – I am profoundly sorry for this double injustice that has been left uncorrected for so long.

Mr Speaker, because of what I have described as the second injustice – the false version of events — not enough people in this country understand what the people of Merseyside have been through. This appalling death toll of so many loved ones lost was compounded by an attempt to blame the victims. A narrative about hooliganism on that day was created which led many in the country to accept that it was somehow a grey area. Today's report is black and white. The Liverpool fans "were not the cause of the disaster".

The Panel has quite simply found "no evidence" in support of allegations of "exceptional levels of drunkenness, ticketlessness or violence among Liverpool fans", "no evidence that fans had conspired to arrive late at the stadium" and "no evidence that they stole from the dead and dying."

Mr Speaker, I'm sure the whole House will want to thank the Bishop of Liverpool and his Panel for all the work they have done. And I am sure that all sides will join with me in paying tribute to the incredible strength and dignity of the Hillsborough families and the community which has backed them in their long search for justice.

While nothing can ever bring back those who have been lost with all the documents revealed and nothing held back the families, at last, have access to the truth. And I commend this Statement to the House.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kelvin MacKenzie, the editor of The Sun when the paper ran a front page story blaming fans for the Hillsborough tragedy, today offered his "profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool".

Mr MacKenzie, who wrote the headline The Truth on the controversial report, said in a statement: "Today I offer my profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool for that headline.

"I too was totally misled. Twenty three ago I was handed a piece of copy from a reputable news agency in Sheffield in which a senior police officer and a senior local MP were making serious allegations against fans in the stadium.

"I had absolutely no reason to believe that these authority figures would lie and deceive over such a disaster.

"As the Prime Minister has made clear these allegations were wholly untrue and were part of a concerted plot by police officers to discredit the supporters thereby shifting the blame for the tragedy from themselves.

"It has taken more than two decades, 400,000 documents and a two-year inquiry to discover to my horror that it would have been far more accurate had I written the headline The Lies rather than The Truth. "I published in good faith and I am sorry that it was so wrong."

Hillsborough_disaster_Sun.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

School boy errors... smfh.

South Yorkshire police apologise to victims' families and Liverpool

David Crompton, chief constable of South Yorkshire Police, has given his “profoundly apologises” to both the families of the 96 Hillsborough victims and Liverpool fans in general.

Police statements were amended after officers sought “independent legal advice”. He adds that “people thought it was the right course of action at the time” but says time has shown it was not.

“Some grave errors were made in this case but it would be unfair to widen it out any further,” he said. He added that police “lost control” and admitted “lies were told about what happened”.

The full statement gets the date of the disaster wrong at first mention, before citing the correct date.

On 18th April 1989, 96 of the Liverpool fans went to Hillsborough to watch the FA Cup Semi Final and died as a result of the Disaster.

On that day South Yorkshire Police failed the victims and families. The police lost control.

In the immediate aftermath senior officers sought to change the record of events. Disgraceful lies were told which blamed the Liverpool fans for the disaster.

Statements were altered which sought to minimise police blame. These actions have caused untold pain and distress for over 23 years.

I am profoundly sorry for the way the force failed on 15th April 1989 and I am doubly sorry for the injustice that followed and I apologise to the families of the 96 and Liverpool fans.

South Yorkshire Police is a very different place in 2012 from what it was 23 years ago and we will be fully open and transparent in helping to find answers to the questions posed by the Panel today.

Chief Constable David Crompton

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.thesun.co...fPlf4dkLJApl4lZ

In 2004, The Sun printed an apology over its reporting of the Hillsborough disaster, describing the article as the worst mistake in its history.

Tonight The Sun's Editor Dominic Mohan said:

"Twenty-three years ago The Sun newspaper made a terrible mistake. We published an inaccurate and offensive story about the events at Hillsborough. We said it was the truth - it wasn't.

"The Hillsborough Independent Panel has now established what really happened that day. It's an appalling story and at the heart of it are the police's attempts to smear Liverpool fans.

"It's a version of events that 23 years ago The Sun went along with and for that we're deeply ashamed and profoundly sorry.

"We've co-operated fully with the Hillsborough Independent Panel and will publish reports of their findings in tomorrow's newspaper.

"We will also reflect our deep sense of shame."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...