March 12 – The police commander in charge during the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster at which 96 Liverpool fans died says he will regret lying about the tragedy until his dying day.
Former Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield told an inquest he had lied about fans forcing a gate open in the buildup to the fateful FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Sheffield.
It was the first time since the tragedy that the now retired Duckenfield had apologised to the families.
“It was a grave mistake and I apologise profusely,” the 70-year-old said, prompting gasps of disbelief from the victims’ families who were in attendance. “Everybody knew the truth, the fans and police knew the truth that we’d opened the gates.”
Duckenfield had previously denied that he gave the order to open one of the gates to the ground allowing thousands of fans to pour in. Instead the fans were blamed for forcing the gate open.
He said he had “no idea” what had made him lie.
“(It is) one of the biggest regrets of my life. I think it’s fair to say that I was overcome by the enormity of the situation and the decision I had to make and as a result of that, this is probably very hard to admit, I was so overcome probably with emotion of us having got into that situation that my mind for a moment went blank.”
The Liverpool supporters were crushed to death after entering the ground through the open gate. A report the following year concluded that the main cause of the disaster was the failure of police control and prompted a total overhaul in safety standards, with perimeter fencing removed and top-flight grounds converted to all-seater stadiums.
Duckenfield was questioned in front of around 200 relatives of those who died as a result of the disaster. Asked what he would have done had he known there were so many supporters waiting to enter, he replied: “I would have informed the club. I would have informed the referee that we had a difficulty arising and that on the evidence we had available, we should consider delaying the kick-off.”
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