Hillsborough: Lies, Damn Lies & Disaster Management Logistics

Image: Jim Dyson/Getty Images Europe.

Perhaps the revelations of the Leveson Enquiry have desensitised us to corruption and collusion between the media, the police and government, but the full impact of the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report has yet to be felt.

The enquiry found that police statements were systematically altered to support the theory that Liverpool FC fans were responsible for the events that left 96 dead, that that version of events was perpetuated  in the public domain by The Sun publishing of unsubstantiated reports as fact and the FA allowed a high profile cup tie to go ahead in a stadium without a safety certificate.

Right now, they’re all hunkered down, waiting to see which direction the shrapnel will fly in and where it will cause the most damage. Only one thing is certain. When the dust clears and those responsible are brought to book, their suffering will be inconsequential compared to that of the families who’ve spent the last 23 years being told that their son, daughter, father, mother, sister or brother was, at least in part, to blame for their own death.

That’s a bloody long time to walk alone.