Hillsborough trial abandoned

The trial of retired police superintendent accused of manslaughter over the deaths of 96 soccer fans at Hillsborough stadium in 1989 has abandoned with no option for a retrial.

The trial of retired police superintendent accused of manslaughter over the deaths of 96 soccer fans at Hillsborough stadium in 1989 has abandoned with no option for a retrial.

Jurors at Leeds Crown Court had failed to reach a verdict on Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who was in charge of crowd control when the Liverpool fans were crushed to death.

"The jury couldn't reach a verdict so the proceedings are finished." a court official said. "There will be no retrial."

Duckenfield's deputy, Superintendent Bernard Murray, was cleared by the same jury on Friday.

Relatives of the Hillsborough victims brought the rare private prosecution against the pair after the government turned down calls for a new inquiry into the deaths of the fans.

Lawyers for the families had argued the fans died in a crush because the two defendants allowed severe overcrowding on one of the stadium's terraces.

The disaster at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, northern England, was the worst in British sporting history.