Hillsborough

maryeliza54, and to think when those lies were first began by the South Yorkshire police, they were still clearing the bodies of the victims from the pitch. Disgusting in every sense of the word.

I agree with those who said that by his lying he prolonged the suffering of the families who suffered enough in their long fight for justice. It has taken so long because of all the lies he and others told and the delaying tactics used to try and stop him and the others coming before the courts. The fact that it was 30 years ago is completely irrelevant - thank goodness in this country we don’t have statute of limitations in criminal cases at least. No one is saying he was the only one responsible and he is not the only one who has been charged. I also think that when the police lie it is much much worse than when a civilian lies because they know exactly what it means to lie and the implications of their actions. I wonder if those saying poor chap had had a loved one die at Hillsborough that they would feel the same? In this whole sorry sorry saga only those poor relatives ( some of whom have died before seeing this group of men in court) are deserving of any sympathy at all

I feel that the final inquiry which found that the behaviour of the Liverpool fans did not contribute in any way to the disaster brought some closure to the relatives of the victims. The now forthcoming trial will, without a doubt, bring final closure to this tragedy that should have concluded many years ago.

To think that South Yorkshire police were within an hour of this terrible event taking place were holding a meeting in the gym at the stadium to work out how to divert blame away from what they had caused is truly almost unbelievable.

The actions of some of Britain's right-wing press in the days that followed in blaming the Liverpool fans for the events that day is something that has shamed this country in the eyes of the sports world since that day.

However, David Duckenfield as the inquiry concluded did carry out gross negligence in the course of his duties at Hillsborough but as other safety trials have demonstrated in the past, that does not mean in any way that he was guilty of manslaughter in the course of those same duties.

The jury in this forthcoming trial may conclude on hearing all the evidence that he was "mistakenly" guilty of gross negligence, but that action was short of manslaughter.

I for one hope the above does not turn out to be the case, but it may well be.

Why on earth did it ever take so long to investigate this appalling tragedy?

I understand the thoughts ‘poor chap’ he made the wrong decisions and caused the deaths of so many.

The fact it was 30 years ago makes no difference, it happened .

It will help the families of the deceased, not only did they have to suffer grief but the lies the police released to the press claiming the victims were drunk and responsible for their own deaths . This man lied and continued to lie .

The families need justice for their loved ones , just as Doreen Lawrence did, the length of time doesn’t matter, it is the deed , be it 50, 30, 20 or 2 ŷears

But he has lied and lied. Had he told the truth at the beginning people could have had some closure. People would have had respect for him and sympathy for the position he was in.

One of my son’s school mates died at Hillsborough.

However, I agree with .Grannybags. Poor chap. No one person is ever responsible for big tragedies, and it was 30 years ago, for heaven’s sake. It won’t help.

Poor chap?

Maybe you could expand on that.

Kitty
How awful!!
It's another one of those times that I will never forget where I was.

Quite, petra. Dh and DS2 were there and have never forgotten it and for a long time DS had couldn't watch TV footage or news reports at all.

Mobile phones hadn't been invented then (or were very rare) and the rest of us (and DH'S 80 year old father) could only watch tv in horror without knowing whether they were ok or not.

Mistakes happen but he has consistently lied and passed the buck about events that day.

poor chap
He was in charge that day, and while I accept that people make mistakes, what has he done for years, he has lied and cheated, made other officers lie and cheat to cover up his mistakes. I'm also very happy that the solicitor is to be charged as well.

Poor chap?

At last!!

Poor chap