Hillsborough

- the human side of information work

Jan ParryHonFCLIP, CILIP Vice President

The Hillsborough Disaster

The Hillsborough Independent Panel – my role

The role of information

Hillsborough – the human side of information work

The disaster took the lives of 96 people

94 on the day itself

95th three days later

96th in 1993

The 97th victim

Saturday 15th April 1989

Warnings of potential disaster

1981- serious crushing injuries, no fatalities

1987 – crushing

1988 – crushing alleviated using barriers to create queues to turnstiles

AND once the pens were full, the central tunnel was closed

Leading up to the disaster - 1989

Hillsborough chosen for FA cup semi final despite

known safety issues

Experienced Match Commander moved jobs

New Chief Supt. promoted less than 3 weeks

before the match = new Match Commander

Leading up to the moment

Police Operational order not amended

Roadworks on the M62 – delayed fans

Leppings Lane not closed to Sheffield

traffic until 2.22 p.m

Crowd not managed into queues for

turnstiles

Leading up to the moment

Central Pens 3 & 4 full at 2.50 p.m

Tunnel to the central pens remained open

Lack of signage and stewarding to other

standing areas

Leading up to the moment

Kick off due at 3.00 p.m. but crowds still outside

the turnstiles

2.47 p.m Police outside radioed to Police Control

Box asking for Exit Gate C to be opened

Match Commander gave the order to open one of

the large exit Gates - Gate C

Leading up to the moment

Police inside the ground unaware

Tunnel to central pen remained open

3.04 pm - a crash barrier in pen 3 gave way

3.06 pm - Match stopped

What happened next?

Confusion

Gymnasium - temporary mortuary

Senior Officials were told fans had forced

Exit Gate C

Witness statements taken

Lord Justice Taylor – Interim report July 1989- Final report January 1990

West Midlands Police - investigated South Yorks. police

The Inquest - Dr Stefan Popper, Coroner 19 November 1990

Lord Justice Stuart Smith scrutiny – Feb 1998

The Official Investigations

15 April 2009

20th Anniversary Memorial

Andy Burnham

Early release of all documents?

The Hillsborough Independent Panel

My Role – Research, Families, Disclosure

The Panel ◦ Terms of reference◦ Information experts - Sarah Tyacke & Christine

Gifford

How the Programme Developed

The Hillsborough Independent Panel

Finding family information

◦ Hillsborough Family Support Group◦ Hillsborough Justice Campaign◦ Hope for Hillsborough◦ All the others

Managing expectations & sensitivities

The families

Which organisations?

Scanning, digitising, cataloguing & redaction

Secure System – Lextranet

Researchers

Medical knowledge

Finding the documents

What was found?

1979 – last valid safety certificate

Poor communication between all agencies

Minimal medical treatment at the ground

Witness statements were changed

Re-examination of all Post Mortems

revealed differences

FAMILIES FIRST

Panel disclosure

41 could have lived

Disclosure Day12 September 2012

Disclosure Day – David Cameron apology

The Report & the Website

Disclosure Day & beyond

http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk

More impact

Apologies

Resignations

Original inquests quashed on 19 Dec 2012

What did we do next?

Post disclosure support for families

The Permanent Archive of documents

Video & Audio footage

Recommendations for record keeping for police and coroners

What is happening now? New inquest

- Lord Justice Goldring

IPCC investigation - misconduct or criminal behaviour by police officers

after the tragedy

Operation Resolve – Asst. Commissioner Jon Stoddart

All decisions made (or not) and actions undertaken by those agencies/organisations who had responsibility of duty of care to those attending the match on 15 April 1989

Information Professionals

The Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report is backed by documentary evidence

Records and information delivered the truth

“And truth must now lead to justice.”

Rt Rev James Jones, Bishop Of Liverpool (retired)

Information and the Truth

Useful Websites

Hillsborough Independent Panelhttp://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk

Hillsborough Inquestshttp://hillsboroughinquests.independent.gov.uk

IPCC investigationhttp://www.ipcc.gov.uk/investigations/hillsborough

Operation Resolve http://operationresolve.co.uk