Hillsborough, 6 to face trial.
 

Witch hunt or justified ? For me it was bad policing by inexperienced coppers, a horrific outcome, The lies afterwards were inexcusable,By all means go after those who encouraged the alteration of statements but I'm not sure I agree with charging people for their actions on the day when no single person is to blame nearly three decades later, what really is there to gain?


Discuss

Regrettably I think Witch hunt. For a malicious act or Gross Negligence (as in an action that only an idiot would consider the risk less than 100%) to have occurred, as I understand it the key item to prove against the command level for manslaughter. It could surely only apply to one rather than six.

It may be a systems failure (when every procedure was followed but due to a combination of unusual circumstances the outcome was to make the outcome worse rather than better) which under review might benefit from modification to those procedures. Then there is cock-up cock-up is not malicious sometimes being merely that a more able man might have done better.

It would have been a lot, lot better, however, if attempts had not been made to blame the fans who clearly have a head of steam to see someone 'done'. A 'doing' will not bring anyone back from the dead.

As was said about the Marchioness tragedy on the Thames - nobody set out to kill anyone that night and the same can be said for Hillsborough. It was a systematic failure, and anyone who had to take a ship down the Thames in those years will know how difficult it was to distinguish lights etc.

With Hillsborough, although I don't think you can "blame" anyone for their actions at the time, the argument seems to be that the incident was covered up, lied about and blame put on others to absolve the Police.

Maybe if they had come clean at the beginning we would not have this mess now.

McC

I'd have to agree. It's the cover up that was the true sin here, the shifting of blame. For that there can be no forgetting or forgiving.

No doubt it was a terrible tragedy and made worse, if that was indeed possible by all the subsequent lies and false accusations. We now know who was to blame and who was complicit in the cover up and they must live with their shame and hopefully remorse but I can't see anything other than revenge in prosecuting them now. They are now pariahs in society and forever will be because of their actions but the law and justice are two very different things.

I agree completely.

What is horribly ironic is that one of those found out to have altered statements after the event, went on to be the Police Chief on Merseyside.