Families said there was no justice despite the findings of a watchdog which slammed police failures

A young girl lays a single flower outside the entrance to Hillsborough Stadium after the stampede which resulted in the deaths of 97 people, at Sheffield, on April 16, 1989. Photo / Getty Images

British families who lost loved ones in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster said today that they would never see justice despite the findings of a watchdog which slammed basic police failures.

Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died in a crush at the stadium in Sheffield, northern England, on April 15, 1989, in what remains Britain’s worst sporting tragedy.

The United Kingdom’s police watchdog published a wide-ranging report today following a more than decade-long investigation, which found failures in “both the planning for the match and the policing of it, as well as in its response to the disaster”.

Even though previous inquiries had already unveiled some failures, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation launched in 2012 “found additional evidence” which gave a more “detailed understanding” of what happened after investigating 352 complaints.

The disaster was caused during a crowd surge at one end of Sheffield Wednesday’s ground hosting Liverpool supporters for an FA Cup semi-final tie.

The probe found that 12 former police officers would have faced proceedings for “gross misconduct” and “fundamental failures” had they still been serving.

But since they have retired, or even died, they will not face any legal action.

“Not a single officer will face a disciplinary action,” lead lawyer for the families Nicola Brook, told a press conference. “No one will be held to account.”

Long-time campaigner Margaret Aspinall, who lost her 18-year-old son James in the disaster, said it was a “disgrace to this nation” that the named officers “walk away scot-free with a full pension”.

‘Deflect the blame’

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Hillsborough was “one of the most significant failings in policing the country has ever seen”.

Legislation currently going through parliament would introduce a legal duty for public officials including police officers to reply truthfully to inquiries.

And in 2017 a law was passed enabling prosecutions of retired police officers or those who had resigned.

IOPC Deputy Director General Kathie Cashell said what the families had endured over almost four decades in their fight for justice was a “source of national shame”.

She also denounced the South Yorkshire police force’s “concerted efforts to deflect the blame onto the Liverpool supporters”.

A 2016 coroner’s inquest, which returned a verdict of unlawful killing, came after years of campaigning by victims’ families.

It also found police errors in opening an exit gate before kick-off caused the fatal crush.

South Yorkshire police admitted in 2023 they got match policing at the match “catastrophically wrong”.

-Agence France-Presse