Advertisement

Hillsborough trial: Duckenfield's 'extraordinary failings' caused 96 deaths

Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield, who is accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 Liverpool supporters at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, arriving Preston Crown Court.
Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield, who is accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 Liverpool supporters at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, arriving Preston Crown Court.

The “extraordinarily bad” failings of Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield caused the deaths of 96 “wholly innocent” Liverpool fans, his trial has heard.

Former South Yorkshire Police chief superintendent Duckenfield failed to quickly declare a major incident or enact emergency measures to free trapped supporters as the disaster unfolded, Preston Crown Court was told on Tuesday.

The 74-year-old, of Bournemouth, denies the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 of the Liverpool supporters, including 10-year-old Jon-Paul Gilhooley, at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final.

READ MORE: Sheffield Wednesday official ‘turned blind eye to Hillsborough safety duties’

READ MORE: Hillsborough disaster – Misconduct charges against former police chief Sir Norman Bettison dropped

Richard Matthews QC, prosecuting, said there may have been “an extraordinary series of collective and personal failures” by many – if not all – of those planning and managing the match against Nottingham Forest.

But, he said, Duckenfield had the “ultimate responsibility” as match commander to those who died as a result of “the wholly innocent activity of attending a football match as a spectator”.

“Each died as a result of the extraordinarily bad failures by David Duckenfield in the care he took to discharge his personal responsibility on that fateful day,” Mr Matthews said, opening his case.

15/4/1989: Liverpool supporters climbing to safety during the Liverpool v Nottingham Forest FA Cup semi-final football match at Hillsborough which led to the deaths of 96 people. A jury for the trial of the Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield at Preston Crown Court is expected to be selected on Tuesday after 68 potential jurors were excused. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. (David Giles/PA Wire)
Former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell, who is charged with contravening the Hillsborough stadium’s safety certificate and a health and safety offence at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, arriving Preston Crown Court. (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell, who is charged with contravening the Hillsborough stadium’s safety certificate and a health and safety offence at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, arriving Preston Crown Court. (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell, who is charged with contravening the Hillsborough stadium’s safety certificate and a health and safety offence at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, arriving Preston Crown Court. (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell, who is charged with contravening the Hillsborough stadium’s safety certificate and a health and safety offence at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, arriving Preston Crown Court. (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

He said 94 of the 96 succumbed to their injuries on the fateful day, while 14-year-old Lee Nicol died two days later and Tony Bland suffered “terrible brain damage” and was in a permanent vegetative state until March 1993 when died.

Because of the law at the time, there can be no prosecution for Mr Bland’s death as he died more than a year and a day after his injuries were caused.

Mr Matthews said: “Sadly, there were also many collective and individual failures to intervene effectively once the disaster unfolded.

READ MORE: Hillsborough police commander Duckenfield to face manslaughter trial

“Not least through the failure of anyone in a position to do so, Mr Duckenfield included, to declare the situation a ‘major incident’ in good time, to put in place emergency measures to release those trapped and to organise and provide emergency medical attention, particularly attempts at resuscitation.”

Liverpool fans pay their respects at the Hillsborough memorial at Anfield in 2009
Liverpool fans pay their respects at the Hillsborough memorial at Anfield in 2009

He continued: “It is the prosecution’s case that David Duckenfield’s failures to discharge this personal responsibility were extraordinarily bad and contributed substantially to the deaths of each of those 96 people who so tragically and unnecessarily lost their lives.

Mr Matthews said “almost inevitably” pressure to get through the limited turnstiles built up in the bottleneck outside the stadium ahead of the kick-off at 3pm.

An exit gate, known as Gate C, was opened to alleviate the crush outside the ground following requests for Duckenfield, then a South Yorkshire Police chief superintendent, to do something before people were crushed or injured outside.

Mr Matthews said: “He did not, at any time, cause the start of the match to be put back with a view to thereby avoiding any crush at the turnstiles.”

The court heard that, once through the gate, fans were met with a sign which read “Standing” above the tunnel leading to pens three and four on Leppings Lane terrace – fenced enclosures which were already full.

Mr Matthews said: “At no time during, prior to or even after the opening of Gate C did David Duckenfield do anything to ensure that the capacity of those pens, which were beneath the police control box, were monitored; that the crowd were directed in any way into emptier pens; or that, most importantly, access to the tunnel was stopped or even inhibited to prevent the inevitable crush of fans effectively carried away down the slope of the tunnel.

“In short, once in and beyond Gate C, the crowd was naturally drawn down the slope of the tunnel and into the confined area of the central pens, and David Duckenfield gave no thought to the inevitable consequence of the flood of people through Gate C, nor did he make any attempt to even monitor what was occurring let alone avert the tragedy.”

The retired officer, who wore a dark suit with a shirt and tie, went on trial alongside former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell.

An injured fan is stretchered off the pitch during the Hillsborough disaster in 1989
An injured fan is stretchered off the pitch during the Hillsborough disaster in 1989

Mackrell, 69, denies contravening the stadium’s safety certificate and a health and safety offence.

The fans died as a result of the crush in pens at the Leppings Lane end of the Sheffield Wednesday ground on April 15 1989.

Retired officer Duckenfield, who wore a dark suit with a shirt and tie, was on trial alongside former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell.

Mackrell “effectively shrugged off all responsibility” for important aspects of his role as safety officer, Mr Matthews said.

At the very least Mackrell turned a “blind eye” to the conditions of the club’s safety certificate by failing to agree with police the methods of entry into the stadium, the prosecutor added.

Mackrell, 69, denies contravening the stadium’s safety certificate and failing to take reasonable care of the health and safety of others.

The trial continues.