Topic: Hillsborough Suspect Files handed over the the CPS

[Millie]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-38582111


Files on 23 people and organisations involved in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster have been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
An inquests jury concluded last April that the 96 victims of the FA Cup semi-final tragedy were unlawfully killed.
The jury found the match commander, Ch Supt David Duckenfield, responsible for manslaughter by gross negligence.
Prosecutors will now decide whether to bring criminal charges against the unnamed 23.
Police horse outside Leppings Lane turnstilesImage copyrightHILLSBOROUGH INQUESTS
Image caption
The football fans were fatally crushed at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest
Lawyer Elkan Abrahamson, director of Broudie Jackson Canter, which represents 20 of the Hillsborough families, said: "Our clients are relieved that files have finally gone to the CPS to consider criminal proceedings against 23 individuals and organisations.
"Given that the CPS have been working in tandem with the police and the IPCC for many years, we believe decisions should now be taken without further delay.
"We will continue to scrutinise the process and any decisions."
Hillsborough families sing outside courtImage copyrightPA
Image caption
Hillsborough families and supporters sang outside court following the inquests' conclusions in April that the 96 victims of the FA Cup semi-final tragedy were unlawfully killed
The announcement follows the conclusion of two criminal investigations - ordered in 2012 following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report - by Operation Resolve and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
Operation Resolve examined events up to and including the day of the disaster, including the police planning and preparation, ground design and the emergency response.
The IPCC focused on the conduct of both South Yorkshire Police and West Midlands Police and allegations of a cover-up in the days and weeks that followed the tragedy.
Fifteen of the 23 suspects relate to Operation Resolve and eight to the IPCC investigation, but the names of individuals and organisations named in the files passed to prosecutors have not been made public.
Some of those previously named as suspects have died and cannot therefore be prosecuted.
Charges being considered include:
Gross negligence manslaughter
Perverting the course of justice
Misconduct in public office
Offences under the Safety at Sports Grounds Act and the Health and Safety at Work Act
Conspiring to pervert the course of justice
The CPS will also consider "any other relevant offences" on the evidence presented by both investigation teams, the IPCC said.
More than 170 allegations of police misconduct continue to be investigated by both the IPCC and Operation Resolve.
Assistant Commissioner Robert Beckley, officer in overall command of Operation Resolve, said the "extensive file" submitted contained "over 35 million words" and reflected "four years of intense work from my teams."
David DuckenfieldImage copyrightREUTERS
Image caption
Ch Supt David Duckenfield was the match commander on the day of the disaster
Families of those who died in the Sheffield tragedy have campaigned for more than 25 years to have individuals or public bodies held to account.
Giving evidence at the Hillsborough Inquests, former South Yorkshire Ch Supt Duckenfield accepted his failure to close a tunnel was the "direct cause of the deaths of 96 people".
Sir Norman BettisonImage copyrightPA
Image caption
Sir Norman Bettison was part of a police team that gathered evidence about what had happened at Hillsborough for use at a public inquiry
In a recent book, Sir Norman Bettison revealed he was being treated as a suspect by the IPCC in mid-2015.
Sir Norman, who was part of a police team that gathered Hillsborough evidence for use at a public inquiry, was Chief Constable of Merseyside Police from 1998 to 2004 and chief constable of the West Yorkshire force until he resigned in 2012.
At the inquests, he said he was not part of a "black propaganda unit" set up to blame Liverpool fans.
It is not known whether his name has been put forward for a charging decision.
The IPCC probe is the biggest criminal investigation into alleged police misconduct ever conducted in England and Wales.
It is understood the CPS may take up to six months to consider all the evidence.
Analysis by Lindsey Prosser, BBC North West Tonight
For years, the friends and families of the 96 Hillsborough victims have campaigned for individuals and corporate organisations to be held accountable.
In 1990, Lord Justice Taylor's report following the public inquiry into the disaster stated that "a failure of police control" was the main cause.
But the Director of Public Prosecutions in England and Wales decided there was no justification to bring any prosecutions.
A year later, after accidental death verdicts were recorded, the families vowed to campaign for fresh inquests.
In 1997, after reviewing fresh evidence, Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said there was no such justification for a new inquiry.
But the families' quest for justice never ceased and was boosted in 2009 when the government agreed that all evidence relating to Hillsborough must be disclosed by all organisations involved.
The results were made public by the Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP) in 2012, paving the way for the fresh inquests in the spring of 2014.
Last year the inquest jury concluded that the 96 fans had been unlawfully killed and exonerated fans of any blame.
The HIP report also led to the Operation Resolve and IPCC investigations.
The 96 people who died at Hillsborough
Image caption
The 96 victims
Read profiles of all those who died in the disaster
IPCC deputy chair Rachel Cerfontyne said: "Conducting an inquiry of this scale and complexity, while supporting the longest running inquests in British legal history, has been a significant undertaking for the IPCC. Our criminal investigation has now substantially concluded."

[mersey_paradiso]

David Conn
@david_conn

Hillsborough: 23 Files for possible criminal charges sent to the CPS; investigations ongoing into 170 more allegations of police misconduct.

Hillsborough: Re only 8 criminal suspects for the alleged cover up, IPCC says officers had to be senior enough to have a "controlling mind."

[mersey_paradiso]

https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/news/hillsborough-investigations-refer-evidence-crown-prosecution-service

Jan 12, 2017
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and Operation Resolve have referred files of evidence relating to 23 suspects from their Hillsborough investigations to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to decide whether criminal charges should follow.

Of these, 15 suspects relate to Operation Resolve’s investigation into the causes of the disaster. The potential offences for consideration include gross negligence manslaughter, perverting the course of justice, misconduct in public office and offences under the Safety of Sports Ground Act 1975 and Health and Safety at Work legislation.

A further eight individuals relate to the IPCC’s independent investigation into both South Yorkshire Police and West Midlands Police and the alleged cover-up of the disaster. The potential offences for consideration include perverting the course of justice, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in public office.

The CPS will consider any other relevant offences on the evidence presented by both investigation teams. The information the IPCC has provided to the CPS about West Midlands Police and South Yorkshire Police runs to 61,000 pages and nearly 3,000 documents respectively, while the information provided by Operation Resolve runs to approximately 85,000 pages.

Further insight into the aspects of the IPCC investigation can be found here.

Both the IPCC and Operation Resolve teams have worked closely with the CPS during the investigation and will remain on hand to support the CPS throughout this decision-making period, undertaking any additional tasks as required.

Over 170 allegations of police misconduct continue to be investigated by both teams.

Updates will continue to be provided to the families of the 96 and their representatives.

A referral to the CPS does not mean that criminal charges will necessarily follow.

Sue Hemming, Head of CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said:

“Having received files from both Hillsborough investigations, we will now assess these in order to determine whether we have sufficient material on which to make charging decisions. Charging decisions will be based on the tests set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.”

AC Robert Beckley, Office in Overall Command of Operation Resolve said:

“Our task has been to investigate whether any individual or organisation is criminally culpable for their role either in the planning and preparation for the match or on the day of the game itself.

“The extensive file we have submitted, which contains over 35 million words, reflects four years of intense work from my team. As well as conducting a criminal investigation, for three years we also supported the coronial process in providing the coroner with thousands of documents, witness statements and reports to assist him in conducting the inquests.”

IPCC Deputy Chair Rachel Cerfontyne said:

“These criminal investigations into the circumstances surrounding the Hillsborough disaster are the largest investigations into alleged police wrongdoing ever undertaken in England and Wales.

“Conducting an inquiry of this scale and complexity, while supporting the longest running inquests in British legal history, has been a significant undertaking for the IPCC. Our criminal investigation has now substantially concluded.”

 

[mersey_paradiso]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/12/hillsborough-investigators-pass-23-cases-to-cps-for-possible-charges?CMP=share_btn_tw


Hillsborough investigators pass 23 cases to CPS for possible charges



Criminal charges could be brought for the first time against individuals and organisations involved in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster after the investigators passed files on 23 suspects to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Fifteen of the 23 investigated have been subject to inquiries relating to the disaster itself on 15 April 1989, in which 96 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in a lethal crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough football ground.

Operation Resolve, the police investigation into the cause of the deaths, said the cases it had sent to the CPS included possible charges of gross negligence manslaughter, perverting the course of justice, misconduct in public office and offences for breaches of the Safety of Sports Ground Act 1975 and health and safety laws.

Operation Resolve said the 15 suspects included individuals and organisations, but did not identify them.

Files on the other eight suspects have been referred by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which has been investigating South Yorkshire police officers since 2012 for allegedly covering up the force’s own culpability for the disaster and mounting a false case that Liverpool supporters were to blame.

The potential offences for which the IPCC has submitted files to the CPS, relating to these eight suspects, include perverting the course of justice, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in public office.

A further 170 allegations of police misconduct, made by family members of the 96 people who died and by Liverpool supporters who were at Hillsborough, were still under investigation, the IPCC said. Of these, 38 are being investigated by Operation Resolve because they relate to the behaviour of police officers on the day of the disaster.

In April, the jury at the new inquests into the disaster determined that the 96 people were unlawfully killed and found a series of failings by South Yorkshire police, the South Yorkshire Metropolitan ambulance service, Sheffield Wednesday, the club’s engineers Eastwood & Partners and Sheffield city council, which was responsible for licensing Hillsborough for safety. The jury completely exonerated Liverpool supporters and found their conduct did not contribute to the dangerous situation at the ground.

Trevor Hicks, the president of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, whose two teenage daughters, Sarah and Vicki, were killed at the match, said he believed diligent investigative work had been done, but that he and some families were disappointed at the number of cases.

“My view is that it is better to go forward with 23 cases which are solid than more which might be lost, particularly as some of these potential charges are very serious,” he said. “But I am surprised the number is as small as that given the number of people involved on the day and in the years since.”

Bereaved families and survivors have fought a 28-year campaign for justice after South Yorkshire police blamed supporters for the disaster and since the first inquest reached a verdict of accidental death in March 1991. No individual or organisation was prosecuted for any offence, nor were any police officers subjected to disciplinary proceedings.

The IPCC’s deputy chair, Rachel Cerfontyne, said she recognised the disappointment of families who had felt “utterly let down by judicial processes” for so many years. She said the number of cases was determined by the criteria that for a suspect to have had criminal intent, in a hierarchical organisation like the police, they would have to be a “controlling mind,” which meant they would be “senior enough to be decision makers”.

The IPCC said it had found that a total of 289 statements made by South Yorkshire police officers after the disaster had been subsequently amended and that this, including whether pressure was put on officers to amend their accounts, had been a central part of its investigation. The decision at the football ground to take blood samples from the bodies of those who died, to be tested for alcohol, was another focus of the investigation.

The IPCC said it had investigated police briefings given to the media and politicians after the disaster, including lurid allegations about supporters, which were published in the Sun four days later.

The West Midlands police, which was brought in to investigate immediately after the disaster, has now been investigated itself by the IPCC, for alleged malpractice and collusion with South Yorkshire police.

Further investigations were carried out into the alleged influence of freemasons in South Yorkshire police and into whether Sir Norman Bettison, a South Yorkshire police officer at the time of the disaster, was dishonest about his involvement in Hillsborough when he subsequently applied for the role of chief constable at Merseyside police in 1998. Bettison has always denied any wrongdoing and said it was not relevant to state his Hillsborough experience on the application form.

Robert Beckley, the officer in overall command of Operation Resolve, which also provided evidence for the new inquests, said: “Our task has been to investigate whether any individual or organisation is criminally culpable for their role either in the planning and preparation for the match or on the day of the game itself. The extensive file we have submitted, which contains over 35m words, reflects four years of intense work from my team.”

Cerfontyne said the Hillsborough investigations had been the largest ever into alleged police wrongdoing in Britain.

“Conducting an inquiry of this scale and complexity, while supporting the longest running inquests in British legal history, has been a significant undertaking for the IPCC,” she said. “Our criminal investigation has now substantially concluded.”

The CPS is expected to take between three and six months to assess the files and decide whether there is sufficient evidence to bring charges.

[So… Howard Philips]

David Conn
@david_conn

Hillsborough: 23 Files for possible criminal charges sent to the CPS; investigations ongoing into 170 more allegations of police misconduct.

Hillsborough: Re only 8 criminal suspects for the alleged cover up, IPCC says officers had to be senior enough to have a "controlling mind."

So those senior enough to have coordinated the alleged cover up. This should negate any "we were only following orders" defence, unless those orders came from outside the Police Service.

[Millie]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/13/hillsborough-police-officers-cant-be-disciplined-as-all-have-retired

None of the former police officers under investigation for more than 170 allegations of misconduct relating to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster will face disciplinary proceedings because all have retired, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has said.

The complaints of misconduct are being investigated in addition to the potential criminal offences by 23 police officers, organisations and individuals which have led to files being sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for consideration of charges.

Police officers can still be prosecuted for criminal offences after retirement, but not disciplined. That means none will face internal action over the 170 complaints, which include some of improper and callous behaviour by some officers on the day of the disaster – in which 96 people were killed at an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest – and subsequent alleged falsifying of witness statements.

Bereaved families have accused South Yorkshire police of having mounted a cover-up to avoid blame for the disaster, and having falsely blamed the lethal crush on the behaviour of Liverpool supporters. West Midlands police, who were brought in to investigate, have been accused of failing to act impartially and of colluding with the South Yorkshire force.

In April, the jury at new inquests into the disaster found that the 96 people were unlawfully killed due to a series of police and safety failings, and gross negligence manslaughter by the South Yorkshire police officer in command, Ch Supt David Duckenfield. The jury completely exonerated the Liverpool supporters, ruling that their behaviour in no way caused the dangerous situation at the football ground.


Hillsborough disaster: deadly mistakes and lies that lasted decades
 Read more
The IPCC’s deputy chair, Rachel Cerfontyne, said that because the most severe sanction from a misconduct charge was dismissal, officers could not be disciplined after they had retired.

She confirmed that all the officers against whom the complaints had been made, by relatives of those who died and others who attended the match and survived the lethal crush on the Leppings Lane terrace, had retired.

Trevor Hicks - the president of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, whose two teenage daughters, Sarah and Vicki, were among those unlawfully killed at the match – said he had always been appalled that police officers were protected from misconduct proceedings by retirement.

In 1991, Duckenfield avoided disciplinary charges by retiring on medical grounds, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. His deputy, Supt Bernard Murray, did not subsequently face action because South Yorkshire police argued it would be unfair for him to do so alone. No police officer, individual or organisation was prosecuted or disciplined for any offence relating to the deaths of the 96 people or alleged cover-up, leading to a 28-year campaign by families and survivors calling for justice and accountability.

“It is fundamentally wrong that police officers can escape scot-free, with pensions for life, when they have allegations of misconduct against them,” Hicks said. “Some junior South Yorkshire police officers did a fantastic job trying to help people on the day, and I have commended them, but the behaviour of some caused great distress to families.”

Becky Shah, who was 17 when her mother, Inger, died at Hillsborough, criticised the system as outrageous and said she and her brother Daniel, who was 13, remained traumatised by the conduct of some police officers.

She said her friend Stephen Oates, who was at the match with Inger Shah and had to identify her body at 2am, was then immediately asked offensive questions by South Yorkshire officers, including whether he was “shagging” her.

Daniel Shah, who was also at the match with his mother, was interviewed subsequently by West Midlands police officers, who asked him aggressive and intrusive questions about whether she drank alcohol and had boyfriends. Becky Shah said this had contributed to their trauma in the years since, and that the police officers should be held accountable.

“We are still distressed by how the police behaved and have to live with it all our lives,” she said. “It is outrageous that police officers have impunity from very serious misconduct offences by retirement, and the law should be changed.”

Many survivors have complained of similar aggressive questioning by West Midlands police officers, and that the typed statements produced from their interviews did not properly reflect what they had said. A group of survivors have also alleged that South Yorkshire police falsified witness statements, including a claim that Liverpool supporters injured a police horse in the crush.

Cerfontyne said the IPCC continued to investigate the allegations, which investigators currently do not consider to be criminal matters, although they are being kept under review. The IPCC intends to conclude whether charges would have been brought if the officers were still serving, and include these findings in a final report on Hillsborough to be published following any potential prosecutions.

[-HH-]

Fuming. How is that justice? They were using that excuse 25 years ago and still using it now.

[Red Beret]

Strip them of their fecking pensions.  That's how you punish police officers who have retired.

Praying they don't come out with some "prosecutions not in the public interest" bullshit.

[mersey_paradiso]

Well, well - what a surprise. Absolute fucking joke.

Police in this country can get away with anything.

[So… Howard Philips]

I'm surprised people are surprised. An ex policeman cannot be subject to internal disciplinary, same as any ex employee.

Was there ever any expectation that the IPCC investigation could lead to disciplinary action?

 The problem is that this has been succesfully covered up, thwarted, kicked in the long grass etc. for those who should have been disciplined to carry on their careers and reach pensionable age.

I always thought that the IPCC were seeking evidence of criminal offences, Hopefully they've found it.