A damning report from the police watchdog has concluded that twelve police officers would have faced gross misconduct cases for a catalogue of professional failings relating to the Hillsborough disaster, had they still been serving.
No Disciplinary Action for Retired Officers
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) stated that none of the named former officers will face disciplinary proceedings because they have all retired. Some, including Peter Wright, the chief constable of South Yorkshire Police at the time of the 1989 disaster, have since died.
The 366-page report, delivered to bereaved families recently, marks the end of 14 years of work by the IOPC. It is described as the largest independent investigation into alleged police misconduct and criminality ever undertaken in England and Wales.
Catalogue of Failings and a 'Defensive Approach'
The IOPC found 110 complaints upheld or cases to answer against former officers. Ten of the men who would have faced gross misconduct cases were from South Yorkshire Police, including senior officers responsible for safety at Hillsborough.
Allegations against Peter Wright included seeking to minimise the force’s responsibility and deflect blame on to Liverpool supporters. The report also identified two senior officers from West Midlands Police—the force appointed to investigate South Yorkshire Police after the disaster—who would have faced allegations of failing to investigate effectively and showing bias.
The IOPC's deputy director general, Kathie Cashell, acknowledged a "defensive approach by South Yorkshire police" and that disproven allegations were made about fan behaviour. However, she stated that proving individual culpability required meeting a high evidential threshold.
The Long Fight for Justice and the Hillsborough Law
The report's findings have been met with a mixture of validation and profound frustration by the families of the 97 victims. Ninety-seven men, women and children were unlawfully killed in the crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium on 15 April 1989.
Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died, said: "I cannot accept or understand how 97 people can be unlawfully killed, the police can lie, and nobody is held accountable." She has campaigned successfully with other families for a 'Hillsborough Law', introduced to parliament in September, which aims to impose a statutory duty of candour on public officials.
The IOPC itself expressed support for such a law, noting that if it had existed in 1989, "it may have helped bring the full facts of what occurred to light far sooner." To date, no police officer has been convicted of any criminal offence relating to the Hillsborough failings.
