NCJ Number
122005
Journal
Police Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: (November 1989) Pages: 24,26
Date Published
1989
Length
2 pages
Annotation
Lord Justice Taylor's interim report on last April's disaster at Hillsborough stadium, when 95 people died, placed the bulk of the blame squarely on the shoulders of South Yorkshire Police.
Abstract
Six months after the event, the verdict is bitterly disputed by rank and file officers who feel a great injustice has been done to the force and that the role of a large number of Liverpool FC fans in the events of that day has been whitewashed by the Taylor Report. In statement after statement submitted by junior officers to the original West Midlands inquiry team, reference was made to the conduct of an unruly section of the Liverpool contingent. Time after time, officers stated that the level of drunkenness and the determination of latecomers to enter the ground was far worse than anything they had encountered previously at football matches. The Taylor report points out that the evidence given to the inquiry did not suggest that a great deal of alcohol was sold by off licenses and supermarkets. However, Lord Taylor was concerned with the drink outlets close to the ground, and police insist that heavy drinking was taking place at pubs miles away. It was the presence of a large contingent of drunken fans in the crowd of late arrivals that may have unleashed a chain of events that led inevitably to the tragedy.