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Hillsborough Independent Panel

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It has been suggested that this article be merged into Hillsborough disaster. (Discuss) Proposed since September 2012.

The Hillsborough Independent Panel is a panel installed by the British government to research the Hillsborough disaster (1989). On 11 September 2012, they publushed their report.

Members

The commission was configured:

  • James Jones, bishop of Liverpool
  • Raju Bhatt, human rights lawyer
  • Christine Gifford, expert in the field of access to information
  • Katy Jones, investigative journalist
  • Dr Bill Kirkup CBE, Associate Chief Medical Officer in the Department of Health
  • Paul Leighton, CBE QPM, former Deputy Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland
  • Professor Phil Scraton, criminology
  • Peter Sissons broadcaster.
  • Sarah Tyacke, CBE

The Hillsborough Independent Panel report

In the years following the disaster there was a growing feeling that the full facts behind the disaster were not in the public domain, with a suspicion that some facts were deliberately covered up. The Hillsborough Family Support Group, led by Trevor Hicks, had long campaigned for the release of all relevant documents. Following the 20th anniversary of the disaster in April 2009, supported by the then Culture secretary Andy Burnham and Minister of State for Justice Maria Eagle, the government asked the Home Office and Department of Culture, Media and Sport to investigate the best way for this information to be made public.

In December 2009, Home Secretary Alan Johnson announced the formation of the Hillsborough Independent Panel with a remit to oversee "full public disclosure of relevant government and local information within the limited constraints set out in the disclosure protocol" and "consult with the Hillsborough families to ensure that the views of those most affected by the tragedy are taken into account". An archive of all the relevant documentation would be created and a report produced within two years explaining the work of the panel and its conclusions. The panel would be chaired by James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool. Other panel members were Raju Bhatt, a human rights lawyer. Christine Gifford, an expert in the field of access to information; Katy Jones, an investigative journalist; Dr Bill Kirkup, Associate Chief Medical Officer in the Department of Health; Paul Leighton, former Deputy Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland; Professor Phil Scraton, an expert in criminology and Peter Sissons, broadcaster.

One particular point of contention was that in the original inquest, the Coroner Dr Stefan Popper had limited evidence to a cut off time of 3.15 pm, this meant that the subsequent response of the police and emergency services was not properly investigated.

Findings

On 12 September 2012, the Hillsborough Independent Panel reached a conclusion that no Liverpool fans were responsible in any way for the disaster, and that the main cause of the disaster was a "lack of police control". Subsequent apologies were released by Prime Minister David Cameron on behalf of the government, Ed Miliband on behalf of the opposition, Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, South Yorkshire Police, and former editor of The Sun, Kelvin McKenzie, who apologised for writing the headline "The Truth". McKenzie said he should have instead written headline that read "The Lies", although this apology was widely discredited by the Hillsborough Family Support Group and Liverpool fans all over the country, as it was seen to be "shifting the blame once again."

Amongst the main findings in the Report, it was concluded that the safety of the crowd was "compromised at every level" and overcrowding issues had been recorded two years earlier. The report concludes that the then Conservative MP for Sheffield Hallam, Irvine Patnick passed on inaccurate and untrue information from the police to the press. The Panel concluded that "up to 41" of the ninety-six who perished may have survived had the emergency services' reactions and co-ordination been improved.

The panel found that South Yorkshire Police and other emergency services had made a "strenuous attempt" to deflect the blame for the tragedy from them and onto the Liverpool supporters. 164 witness statements were amended, 116 of them removing statements which were unfavourable to South Yorkshire Police. In addition police carried out blood alcohol readings of the victims, some of them children, and ran computer check on the national police database in an attempt to "impugn their reputation".

Labour MP for the Leigh constituency in Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, a former Secretary of State for Health, who had led the campaign for a full inquiry, promising to find results in 2011, thanked the Prime Minister "for every single word" of his statement to the Commons.

Resources

  3. ^ "Who are the members of the Hillsborough Independent Panel?". Liverpool Echo. 12 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Parliamentary business". Parliament.uk. 15 December 2009.
  5. "Hillsborough families will call for 'truth commission' at meeting with minister". Fuardian.co.uk. 24 Apr 2009.
  6. Home Page Hillsborough Independent Report
  7. "Hillsborough papers: Cameron apology over "double injustice"". BBC News. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  8. "Hillsborough statement: Cameron and Miliband apologise". BBC Democracy Live. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Kelvin MacKenzie offers "profuse apologies" over Hillsborough". ITV.com. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  10. Hillsborough files: Calls to strip Sir Irvine Patnick of knighthood The Scotsman
  11. Hillsborough: The Report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, pages 350-352.
  12. Hillsborough disaster: new inquest likely after damning report The Guardian
  13. "Hillsborough disaster report published - Wednesday 12 September". Guardian.co.uk. 12 Sep 2012.
  14. We'll get justice for tragic 96, writes Andy Burnham Daily Mirror
  15. Hillsborough files - Reaction to release of government papers BBC News
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