A British court has found former police superintendent David Duckenfield not guilty in a trial over his involvement in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster.
The Hillsborough disaster fatally injured 96 people and is the deadliest event in British sports history. At the time, Duckenfield was South Yorkshire’s police chief superintendent and served as match commander over the 1989 FA Cup semi-final game between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
The 10-person jury cleared Duckenfield, 75, on charges of gross negligence manslaughter after six weeks of trial and 14 hours of deliberation. The verdict came down on Thursday. The trial was the second Duckenfield has faced over his role in the deadly event. A trial earlier in the summer on the same charges ended after the jury was unable to reach a verdict.
“David is, of course, relieved that the jury has found him not guilty, however his thoughts and sympathies remain with the families of those who lost their loved ones,” Duckenfield’s solicitor Ian Lewis said in a statement. “He understands the public interest in this case, but would ask that his privacy and that of his family is respected, and will not be commenting further.”
Others connected to the trial by the ones they lost in the 1989 event slammed the jury’s decision for refusing to hold anyone accountable for the disaster.
“I’m ashamed to be British, I am ashamed of this country and things have to got change I do not want any other family to ever go through what us Hillsborough families have had to go through for almost 31 years. This country is a disgrace and things have got to change,” said Louise Brookes, who lost her brother in the tragedy.
The Hillsborough disaster resulted from overcrowding in two sections, or pens, of the stadium in Sheffield. At thousands of fans pressed to enter the arena to view the upcoming match, Duckenfield ordered his officers to open up an exit gate that 2,000 more Liverpool fans pressed through.
Soon after the surge, fans began extracting people crushed in the center of pens 3 and 4. Nearly 100 people died from injuries sustained in the press and hundreds more were injured.
