It's the DPP cases that I'm interested in mate, and I doubt we'll see them launched until the back end of the year - at the earliest. This is just political tokenism, as they've chucked him to the lions due to the attitude of the Police at the inquest, which was always going to be defensive in tone, and most of them had already hung their boots up anyway.
I suspect he planned his retirement knowing what was about to hit the fan, but as he is suspended now it may affect his pension especially if he is eventually charged with an offence.
With an eye-watering pension. Look, I love the police. There, I've said it. I have several family members, including two late uncles in the force, and my granddad was a special (but they wouldn't take him on full time because he had a record for scrumping from when he was twelve - harsh times in the 20's!). Two lifelong from friends from school were both sergeants in the Merseyside force. My mum always used to make a point of inviting beat coppers (remember them?) for a cup of tea and cake and made sure the neighbours saw it. She was often called a grass, nark, etc, but there was a time, probably before the 80's when communities started to disintegrate, when neighbourhoods saw it their duty to co-operate with the coppers to lock-up the burglars, vandals, car thieves, etc. I think I remember them from old Ladybird books... I place the police second in my most esteemed professions in society, behind teachers and above the emergency services. But with such status comes extreme scrutiny and expectations. SYP in the 80's were not fit to wear badge. Worst still was the conniving and chicanery that went on ion all levels of the establishment to protect them from any censure after they'd done The Wicked Witch's bidding with the miners in the early 80's. and even some previously entrenched right-wing cheerleaders like Peter Oborne are now, belatedly, recognising that. I hope (daydreaming, no doubt) that one thing that could come from the last 27 years, should there be a Royal Commission like Oborne suggests, is not the emasculating of the Force (far from it) but a structure of scrutiny and accountability THAT DOESN'T TAKE IT'S ORDERS, REWARDS FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY! Like the Judiciary, the force should be separate and accountable from the current government, and should never be in the pocket of establishment spectres like Inghram again.
Not sure what they could charge him with given that most of the plods in question are already retired officers. He's gone because they needed to show someone was taking a bullet for it, but I doubt he'll be personally discredited, as what in reality has he done?
Spare a thought for this man Stephen Whittle & his family today, the 97th Hillsborough Victim as he's known. He sold his ticket on that day to his mate who died in the crush. The other year he committed suicide throwing himself under a train. He left £61,000 to the Hillsborough memorial trust. Hopefully somewhere he now rests in peace too. please log in to view this image
Agreed. The IPCC and the other investigation aren't due to finish until December and the ****ers usually drag on anyway.
The dark legacy of Hillsborough includes much more than the 96 deaths and the 27 year fight for justice by the families, it also includes the many supporters still affected by injuries from that day, some left with horrific physical injuries and many left with mental scars, the poor lad in GK's post above is just the tip of the iceberg unfortunately. Also the smear campaign is still doing its intended job all these years later as witnessed by people that even since the verdicts at Warrington are still not being able to believe it was the fault of the authorities (mainly the police), the people of Sheffield the majority of who backed their police service to the hilt in the aftermath and in the 27 years that followed are soon(according to the BBC)about to share in the dark legacy of Hillsborough by seeing their standard of life affected by the guilty verdicts because of the financial debt to their city that's looming large due to the lying bastards in their police force,other south Yorkshire towns and cities will also suffer, the article I read reckon Sheffield's debt since the verdicts and due to the police, safety services etc losing the case is already £90m, their will be a mountain more of money needing to be found by them in the coming months and years to pay for the many future court cases and justifiable compensation claims. Duckenfied and Co have lived a life of luxury since they helped to kill and maim the hundreds of supporters at Hillsborough and now Sheffield looks like paying for the cost of that luxury.
Even if I have to show this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-35473732 to people who I live nearby one by one to prove that what they've believed is utter bull I will. I live with the predicament that many (a decreasing amount) of the people I know and some I would call friends are very defensive about the issue, so I tend not to talk about it. However with concrete proof its hard for them to keep the belief in SYP and to blame the fans, that being said there are still people who cling to the lies and I hope now to show them why they are wrong The most irritating thing about these people is that most where no where near Hillsborough at the time and have based their opinion on what they heard, usually from 'someone they know', 'a friend of a friend' or 'someone who was nearby'
Roger mate I ain't blaming your friends or others in that location for their support of SYP, just shows how good a job SYP did with the smears and smokescreen in the aftermath, but it will no doubt be a shock to a lot of people's systems that the very people they backed are going to make their council tax shoot up and possibly see council amenities close etc. Sad but tbf we've shouldered all the sadness since the 15th April 1989 and now many more are about to get there share of it due to the lies and smears of those found guilty on Tuesday at 11.13am in Warrington.
The final verdict of the Hillsborough inquest goes far beyond the issue of football. Even beyond the issue of the tragic event. It is the taking on of a huge part of the establishment by a non privileged non elite section of the population and win. Most of the general population had believed the police and the press. Why wouldn't they? they were the police after all, then the respected highly placed politicians and the press. To confirm what many of us suspected: 1. The politicians have their own agenda and are very often economical with the truth (if not downright lying). Look at the junior doctors situation: would you trust these dedicated young people or Jeremy Hunt the polished ambitious politician to tell the truth or to paint his own version of events as the truth? 2. The police have their own agenda: The Laurence investigation and many others have shown that. 3. The press we knew would take sides and whats is printed in black and white is not even be worth the paper its written on.
Spot on Carl, you mentioned politicians in your post and I have just read this article about Joe Ashton the old Labour stalwart. http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk...rns-on-day-of-hillsborough-disaster-1-7879348 Strange that a prominent MP wasn't called to evidence at Warrington despite him being there and witnessing the build up to the crush and witnessing the scramble for survival behind the goal and also giving a witness account at the Taylor Enquiry. Also, Operation Resolve appears to be very weak when South Yorkshire police offices are allowed to refuse to give statements to them in a possible criminal investigation. http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/dozen...o-speak-to-hillsborough-crime-probe-1-7880621
Tbh, I don't think we should let elements of football tribalism come into this. It should be seen as a step, however small, to a fairer society. Although we already knew it to be the case, this is clear evidence that the State - politicians, police and parts of the media - will close ranks whenever there is evidence of wrongdoing or incompetence and attempt to lay the blame elsewhere, regardless of the consequences and the suffering caused. As has been said, this was a disaster waiting to happen, our club just happened to be the one where the inevitable came to be. This is not intended to play down the superhuman resilience shown by those who have campaigned for the truth to be shown, but to point out that their success is a great example to all who experience the stonewall response of the authorities to avoidable injustices on their part. I'm under no illusions that this will herald a utopian openness in the future, but by such small steps progress can be made.
I see what you mean to do but I disagree I am afraid. This would possibly lead to tribalism whereas at the moment there is consensus. What the families achieved goes well beyond the confines of lfc and of football. They gave the British people the ability to challenge the very top of the establishment. In future people cannot just be dismissed as wrong because the police or the press say so. This is a remarkable achievement achieved despite huge adversity over 27 years.
