Hillsborough police 'should be prosecuted' for role in the disaster, inquest says

The Prime Minister said the verdicts represented a “landmark moment in the quest for justice” for the Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough

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Police chiefs responsible for the Hillsborough tragedy should be prosecuted for their actions leading up to the disaster, MPs have demanded in the wake of the inquest verdicts.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, will make a Commons statement on Wednesday in which she is expected to accept the inquest’s recommendations.

The Prime Minister said the verdicts represented a “landmark moment in the quest for justice” for the Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough.

He added: “It is also a long overdue day – the bereaved families and survivors of the Hillsborough disaster have had to wait 27 long years for the full facts of what happened. And it is only due to their tireless bravery in pursuing the truth that we arrived at this momentous verdict.

“All families and survivors now have official confirmation of what they always knew was the case, that the Liverpool fans were utterly blameless in the disaster that unfolded at Hillsborough.”

Andy Burnham, the shadow Home Secretary, who campaigned for the inquest to be set up, described Hillsborough as the “greatest miscarriage of justice of our times” and called for prosecutions of police chiefs who were culpable.

“This inquest has delivered justice. Next must come accountability. For 27 years, this police force has consistently put protecting itself above protecting those hurt by the horror of Hillsborough," Mr Burnham said.

"People must be held to account for their actions and prosecutions must now follow.”

Steve Rotheram, the MP for Liverpool Walton, said: “I have waited 27 years for this moment. But I know it comes too late for many. I was there on the day and saw the horror unfold before my very eyes.

“Before we'd even buried our dead, the hurt of loss was compounded by the lies and smears.”

He added: “The truth is out there for all to see. Justice has been served by the verdicts and now it is about accountability."

Southport’s Liberal Democrat MP, John Pugh, said: “It is a national embarrassment that getting to the truth has taken so long and extended the hurt, pain and anguish of the families, but also the wider community in Merseyside.”

He urged Mr Cameron to make a formal apology in the Commons to the Hillsborough families and to Liverpool.