Hillsborough officer innocent

A former senior policeman was acquitted of two counts of manslaughter in connection with the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 fans.

A former senior policeman was acquitted of two counts of manslaughter in connection with the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 fans.

Bernard Murray, who was on duty as the police superintendent at the April 15, 1989, soccer match at Sheffield's Hillsborough Stadium, was acquitted on the fourth day of deliberations.

Jurors were still considering the fate of former Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, in charge of policing the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Fans' groups have long argued that police caused the disaster at Hillsborough by herding spectators who arrived late for the match into already-overcrowded pens in a fenced-off area behind one of the goals.

Most of the victims were crushed to death.

State prosecutors refused to bring charges against anyone involved. But relatives from the Hillsborough Family Support Group launched a private prosecution against Duckenfield, 55, and Murray, 58.

A magistrate ruled last year that the two men must stand trial in Leeds Crown Court in the deaths of two of the victims - John Alfred Anderson, 62, and James Gary Aspinall, 18.