Hillsborough Trial Of Former South Yorkshire Police Officers Collapses

TWO retired police officers and an ex-solicitor have been acquitted after being accused of perverting the course of justice in the Hillsborough disaster trial.

TWO retired police officers and an ex-solicitor have been acquitted after being accused of perverting the course of justice in the Hillsborough disaster trial today, May 26, Euro Sport reports.

Ex-South Yorkshire police detective chief inspector Alan Foster, former South Yorkshire Police chief superintendent Donald Denton and lawyer Peter Metcalf were all accused of being involved in altering police officer’s statements to minimise repercussions for South Yorkshire Police.

Police officers at first blamed the horrific incident on drunken fans, a statement that was always rejected by survivors of the disaster, relatives of the victims and the community in Liverpool. Those mentioned have spent years fighting for the truth of what had happened.

96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death when the stadium in Sheffield became over-crowded before an FA semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool in 1989.

The three men on trial have denied perverting the course of justice and it was ruled by Judge William Davis that they did not have a case to answer to due to a non-statutory enquiry not being a “course of public justice” that could be perverted.

Liverpool Football Club issued a statement on their website saying that the developments today were a “huge disappointment”.

“While it would not be our place, legally or otherwise, to comment on those proceedings as they pertain to individuals, it is incumbent on us to forcefully point out that the 96 victims, their families, survivors and all those who suffered as a result of the Hillsborough tragedy have continuously been failed in their pursuit for justice,” the club said.

“We salute all those who have campaigned for justice. They have been let down yet again.

“We have a situation in which 96 people were unlawfully killed and yet no individual or group has been deemed legally culpable for their deaths.”

The Premier League club reiterated that the behaviour of Liverpool fans was not a factor that contributed to the disaster – “a truth for which the bereaved families had to fight for over a quarter of a century”.

Margaret Aspinall, whose son James died in the disaster, said the ruling was “an absolute mocker”” and a “shambles”.