Twenty-seven years ago, in April 1989, 96 people were killed and over 700 injured in a crush at Hillsborough stadium in the UK. Today, an inquest found that they had been unlawfully killed by the police:
The 96 people who died at the Hillsborough football stadium disaster in 1989 were unlawfully killed and a catalogue of failings by police and the ambulance services contributed to their deaths, the jury at the new inquests into the disaster has determined.
The verdict, which came shortly after the 27th anniversary of the lethal crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, vindicated the bereaved families, who have campaigned tirelessly against the police’s efforts to blame supporters for the tragedy.
The question now is whether any of the police officers who made the decisions leading to those deaths, and the decisions afterwards to doctor evidence, change witness statements and blame the victims will be prosecuted. Sadly, I doubt it. Instead, we'll see the British establishment protect its own, say that too much time has passed and nothing can be done. And the net result of that will be to enable future wrongdoing, while further eroding public faith in government.
