If it is proved he did, then he will be charged at the very least with perverting the course of justice, which is quite a serious offence.
David Conn @david_conn BREAKING: Hillsborough Trial: The jury has NOT reached a verdict on the manslaughter charge against ex Ch Supt David Duckenfield. Graham Mackrell, ex Sheffield Wednesday secretary, has been found GUILTY of the charge of breaching his safety duty re the number of turnstiles.
David Conn @david_conn BREAKING: Hillsborough: The Crown Prosecution Service has said that it WILL seek a RETRIAL of the former Ch Supt David Duckenfield for gross negligence manslaughter, after the jury in this trial failed to reach a verdict.
David Conn @david_conn BREAKING: Judge Sir Peter Openshaw has set a £6,500 fine, £5,000 costs, for Graham Mackrell, convicted as the Sheffield Wednesday safety officer for dangerous turnstile arrangements on the day 96 people supporting Liverpool died at the 1989 FA Cup semi final.
Apparently that was based on only having 7 turnstiles open. Don't think lessons were learned. How many turnstiles were open when we took thousands there? Though, going by other occasions, that could be down to the inept sods at Humberside Police telling them to only expect about a quarter of the amount that went.
I remember the game at Wednesday and I turned up around 6.30. Even then there was quite a wait getting into the ground. I worked in Sports Ground Safety at the time and told a senior steward they would need to open more turnstiles. They just shrugged their shoulders. As soon as the game was announced as pay on the gate there was massive interest and it just increased all the way up to the day of the game. It was a watershed moment. After playing games at the likes of Boston, Lincoln, Luton and Mansfield city were at a ground with real history and a Sheffield Wednesday team which had played recently in the top flight. How nobody saw the foresaw the amount of fans arriving that night I do not know.
There were four open that night, and the others were closed because 'we have no change'. I tackled one of the uninterested policeman on duty about it. They eventually opened up another two blocks, did away with the change and rounded up admission to what ever note you had.
£6.5k fine. Little wonder one the victims families went absolutely nuts on TV. Didn't Mackrell admit that he was too busy brown-nosing the corporate guests to worry about what was going on outside. And he's still working in some capacity for the FA. Says it all. A £ucking disgrace.
David Conn @david_conn BREAKING: Hillsborough: A retrial has been ordered of the manslaughter charge against ex South Yorkshire police Ch Supt David Duckenfield, who was in command of the 1989 FA Cup semi final at which 96 people were killed. Trial due to start 7 October.
Whilst it is wrong to put all of the blame on a single person, as many factors contributed to Hillsborough, the fact that there will never actually be any person held accountable is completely wrong. It is, and I hate to sound cringy, an injustice for the 96, and their families and friends will never have full closure.
A long and heartbreaking read. Absolutely disgusting outcome https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...gh-families-were-failed-by-the-justice-system
I was at a Sheff Wed v Man Utd game just before this happened. We got a train from Hull and we were 'kettled' with a whole load of deaf Man Utd fans. Our train from Hull arrived in Sheffield at 12.00. The Police bussed us directly to the ground, penned us in at Leppings Lane entrance and told us we had to stand in the pissing rain for two and a half hours till the turnstiles opened. The deaf guys tried to tell the police they were hungry and thirsty. You know what happened next. Yep! **** all. I tried to tell the policemen that my tickets were for the best stand because a relative in Sheffield had bought them for us, You know what happened next. Yep! **** all. Me and my wife and a lot of deaf Man Utd fans all went ****ing hungry and got ****ing soaking wet. You all went to that Tuesday night game when 8000 of us turned up. How **** was that. End of the day, 96/7 Liverpool fans died because SYP ****ed up big style. It could've happened to me, my wife and a load of deaf blokes the week before. History will record that we were all drunk.