Nearly 26 years after it claimed
the lives of 96 Liverpool football supporters, the police officer in charge on
the day has finally admitted the Hillsborough disaster was his fault. David
Duckenfield made his admission to new inquests into the deaths.
In fact, Mr Duckenfield made a whole series
of admissions, among them: that he had lied about the events of the day, that
he was ignorant of the layout of the ground, that he was not equipped to be in
command of the operation, and that his response when the fatal crush happened
was ‘hopeless’.
But counsel for 22 of the families
accused him of making a ‘politician’s apology’, and tried to probe him on why
it had taken more than a quarter of a century, noting that as late as March
last year, he was still denying responsibility.
Mr Duckenfield and another senior
officer were charged with manslaughter in a private prosecution in 2000. The
other officer was acquitted, while the jury could not agree on Mr Duckenfield. The
judge refused a retrial on the grounds that it would be impossible for it to be
fair.
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