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Hillsborough disaster: Five more former police officers could be charged over deaths of 96 Liverpool fans

Crown Prosecution Service has already decided to charge six people over the deaths of 95

Home Affairs Correspondent

Thursday 22 February 2018 19:30 GMT

(PA)

A further five police officers could face criminal charges over the Hillsborough disaster, investigators have announced.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is reviewing evidence from West Midlands Police on two officers who were found to have a case to answer by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Prosecutors are expected to announce their decision over the coming three weeks, while the IOPC could also pass them files on another three suspects who were South Yorkshire Police officers at the time of the disaster.

The CPS has already decided to charge six people over the deaths of 95 men, women and children killed in a crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in 1989.

No prosecution was brought for the 96th victim, Tony Bland, who suffered severe brain damage and died in 1993 after the statute of limitations had expired.

Families hailed the “beginning of the end” of their long struggle for justice and five of the suspects have appeared in court, but a legal dispute has put the case against match commander David Duckenfield on hold.

It cannot proceed until a court grants permission to lift a stay on further prosecution that was imposed after an attempted private prosecution by the victim’s families in 2000.

Hillsborough Disaster 1989

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Hillsborough Disaster 1989

Liverpool fans try and pull their fellow supporters out of the crush at Hillsborough stadium, 15 April 1989. Ninety-six fans were crushed to death and hundreds injured after support railings collapsed during a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest

Richard Sellers

Hillsborough Disaster 1989

Football fans are rushed away on a stretcher at Hillsborough stadium, 15 April 1989. Ninety-six fans were crushed to death and hundreds injured after support railings collapsed during a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest

AFP/Getty

Hillsborough Disaster 1989

The Sun has been boycotted in Liverpool since this edition, which lied about the behaviour of Liverpool fans on the day

Hillsborough Disaster 1989

Hillsborough Memorial tributes lie on the pitch during the memorial service marking the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster, at Anfield Stadium on April 15, 2016 in Liverpool, England. Thousands of fans, friends and relatives attended the service at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy. 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives during a crush at an FA Cup semi final against Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough football ground in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1989

Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Hillsborough Disaster 1989

Barry Devonside leaves Parr Hall, Warrington, where the Crown Prosecution Service has said, Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield, former chief constable Sir Norman Bettison and four other individuals have been charged with offences relating to the Hillsborough disaster.

PA

Hillsborough Disaster 1989

Family members react after the families of the 96 Hillsborough victims were told the decision that the Crown Prosecution Service will proceed with criminal charges and six people have been charged with criminal offences, including Ex-Ch Supt David Duckenfield and Sir Norman Bettison on June 28, 2017 in Warrington, England. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revealed its intentions at a meeting with victims' relatives. Last year's inquests into the Hillsborough disaster concluded the 96 fans had been unlawfully killed

Getty Images

Hillsborough Disaster 1989

Norman Bettison was charged with four counts of misconduct in a public office. He was found to have lied on four separate occasions about his role in the deaths and when he claimed he never blamed Liverpool supporters for the disaster

PA

Hillsborough Disaster 1989

Former South Yorkshire Police match commander David Duckenfield is currently on trial for the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans.

Reuters

The application will be heard at Preston Combined Court next week, while the CPS continues to examine around 61,000 pages of evidence on the Hillsborough disaster and alleged cover-up of emergency service failures that followed.

The original inquests into the deaths of the 95 victims returned a verdict of accidental death but the findings were quashed and in April 2016, a jury found they had been unlawfully killed.

No pleas have been formally entered but Mr Duckenfield, former chief constable Norman Bettison, retired officers Donald Denton and Alan Foster, Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell and solicitor Peter Metcalf have indicated through their lawyers that they will plead not guilty.