Police were admitted to have told a “bald-faced lie” about supporters’ behaviour at the Hillsborough disaster, and that The Sun’s ‘The Truth’ headlines were false.
April 15, 2025 marks the 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster and the remembrance of those 97 supporters who lost their lives to the tragedy in 1989.
In reality there are countless others who have been affected by the events in Sheffield that day as well as their subsequent treatment by police and the media, many fatally.
Four days after the disaster, on April 19, 1989, the Sun newspaper printed a front-page headline claiming ‘The Truth’ that supporters picked the pockets of victims as well as assaulting and urinating on attending police officers.
At an inquest in 2014, former South Yorkshire police inspector Gordon Sykes admitted those claims were a “bald-faced lie.”
Reporting at the time, journalist David Conn relayed Sykes’ admission that police stories as part of the Sun’s coverage were false, agreeing that it was a “bald-faced lie” that bodies were stripped.
Sykes also conceded that there was no dead body found with “numerous wallets,” fans had not been “pushing” to get into the stadium and they had not drunk more than is normal.
He further admitted that his claim to the Taylor Inquiry that there were 2,000 ticketless fans at Hillsborough was also false.
Later reported by Conn for the Guardian, Sykes told the inquest his belief that the approach to the Leppings Lane turnstiles at Sheffield Wednesday’s home stadium was a “death trap.”
“Up to 1989, Iโm going to put it bluntly: we got away with it,” he explained.
Sykes agreed that Sheffield Wednesday, the FA and South Yorkshire Police were “playing Russian roulette” with fans’ lives.
Only 1 person has ever been successfully prosecuted
Only one individual has ever been successfully prosecuted for what happened at Hillsborough – the stadium safety officer, Graham Mackrell, was fined ยฃ6,500.
He failed to ensure there were enough turnstiles to prevent large crowds from building up outside the Leppings Lane end of the ground. There were just seven turnstiles open for over 10,000 supporters.
“That was a health and safety offence he was charged with, not with a negligence-type offence,” journalist David Conn told This Is Anfield.
In 2019, former Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who ordered and subsequently lied about the opening of exit gate C – the gate opposite the tunnel to the overfilled pens – was found not guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.
โข READ: Hillsborough: The Truth โ Facts about the disaster
Duckenfield, who was match commander at the fatal semi-final, was found to have been grossly negligent by the jury at the 2016 inquest.
However, this wasn’t decided a criminal court case and, when he was prosecuted for gross negligence manslaughter, the 2019 jury acquitted him of criminal charges.
In addition, solicitor Peter Metcalf and retired police officers Donald Denton and Alan Foster were accused of altering police statements and helping to cover up police failings.
Their trials collapsed on a technicality.
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