Panorama: Hillsborough – How They Buried The Truth

I defy anyone to watch the Panorama programme Hillsborough and not get emotional.  It shows a litany of mistakes, lies and ultimately a cover-up which caused pain, distress, heartache and anger for families, friends and supporters.  That the authorities would wilfully confiscate BBC taped coverage shot from eight cameras shows a vindictive and nasty set of human beings who were in charge on the day, led the investigation and the Government of the day and future administration's who stymied any progress by pointing  an accusing finger towards Liverpool fans.

This was the era of football hooliganism and following Heysel, it was easy for the authorities as I have said previously, to use stereotypes through the newspapers led by The Sun, and wilfully block any attempts to get justice for the 96 and their families.

The pain of those who attended the match is still so raw primarily because of the ineptitude of those in charge.  Fans, policemen and ambulance men spoke of the incompetence and the indecision from those on the ground,  but ultimately the decision makers who inescapably showed they were unprofessional and incapable of making decision under pressure and have since hid behind the cloak of seniority and knighthoods in a bid to not face up to their responsibilities.

Anne Williams lost her son Kevin on that fateful day, campaigned tirelessly for justice and for stain to be removed from accusatory fingers of the establishment.

Anne who died recently after a courageous fight against cancer,  was a driving force behind the campaign, and described by Kevin Robinson the former chair of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign,  said she was "an absolutely fantastic lady in every way."

Anne Williams the 24th Hillsborough 24th memorial service

It's Anne and Kevin and the 95 victims and their families that the fight goes on to completely clear their names and bring the real villains that day to task through disciplinary proceedings or criminal convictions.  It's criminal that these people have only felt the heat of public pressure after the release of the report and in line with the vindication of the decisions finally being quashed when these people tell the truth about what really happened that day, and they'll only do that through the wealth of evidence being amassed against them,  they should be relieved of positions they still hold and awards public awards like knighthoods and keys to the city.

One of the unashamed is Sir Norman Bettison, the antithesis to decorum as Anne Williams is heavenly to the same adjective, managed to go under the radar for years until he was named in the Independent  Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) by West Yorkshire Police Authority that he supplied misleading information, in other words he was economical with the truth.  He was still at it last last September when he said that the our fans’ behaviour at Hillsborough made made policing “harder that it needed to be”.

This is not the behaviour we expect of a person of authority, let alone a senior policeman and as such he should relieved of us any awards specifically his knighthood.  His knighthood, awarded for policing and in this regard since the tragedy he has failed abysmally.  A couple of the key indicators for a policeman are:
 

• conducting initial investigations, gathering evidence, taking statements and complying with relevant legal requirements;
• gathering, recording and analysing intelligence to achieve community safety and crime reduction objectives and providing crime prevention advice;

One can safely say that Sir Norman Bettison has failed especially in trying to, as the e-petition, relates, in his “alleged attempt to influence the decision-making process of West Yorkshire in the days following the publication of the IPCC report”, therefore his resignation from his post as chief constable of West Yorkshire Police last October and the removal of his honorary fellowship by the John Moores University, should be only the starters.

The inspirational chairwoman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, Mary Aspinall, said, “It’s great to know that John Moores University has done the right thing.

“Let’s hope now that the next step is the removal of his knighthood.”

The published IPPC report said that Bettison, if he was still on the force, would have “a case to answer for gross misconduct.  That’s why it’s important that we support the move to remove his Knighthood and to this end people should sign the e-petition.


YNWA