The 96 football fans who died in the Hillsborough disaster were unlawfully killed, an inquest jury has concluded – and police have admitted they got it “catastrophically wrong”.
The jurors ruled that the behaviour of fans did not cause or contribute to the tragedy, which happened when supporters were crushed before an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989.
The unlawful killing conclusion, reached by a majority of seven to two of the jurors, was greeted with sobbing and cheers at the hearing in Warrington, Cheshire.
Emotional families, many of them in tears, sang the Liverpool anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ outside the court during a break in proceedings and chanted “justice for the 96.”
Lawyers acting for relatives of the victims said the jury’s findings had completely vindicated their 27-year fight for justice.
The Crown Prosecution Service has said it will “formally consider whether any criminal charges should be brought against any individual or corporate body”, while Home Secretary Theresa May will appear before MPs on Wednesday to set out the Government’s response
In order to reach a verdict of unlawful killing, jurors had to be convinced that the match commander, chief superintendent David Duckenfield, owed a duty of care to those who died in the disaster, and that he was in breach of that duty of care.
Third, they also had to be satisfied that his breach of duty caused the deaths, and fourthly, that it amounted to “gross negligence”.
Mr Duckenfield gave the order at 2.52pm to open exit Gate C in the Leppings Lane end of the stadium, allowing around 2,000 fans to pour into the already packed central pens behind one of the goals.
The jurors had to reach decisions on a total of 14 questions about the disaster that were put to them before they began their deliberations at the end of the longest jury hearing in British legal history.
