Six People Have Been Charged with Crimes Relating to the Hillsborough Disaster

Six people, including two retired senior police officers, have been charged with crimes relating to the Hillsborough tragedy of 1989.

They include David Duckenfield, the South Yorkshire police officer in charge of policing the match, who has been charged with the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 people. Sir Norman Bettison, who was an inspector in the South Yorkshire police at the time, has been charged with four counts of misconduct in a public office. Graham Mackrell, the designated safety officer for the stadium, has been charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

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Three other men – police officers Donald Denton, Alan Foster, and force solicitor Peter Metcalf – have been charged with perverting the course of justice.

The charges come a bitter 28 years after the Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. In 2012, the initial inquest into the disaster was quashed by the High Court. Last year, new inquests into the disaster determined that the 96 people had been “unlawfully” killed.