Sheffield Wednesday official 'turned blind eye to Hillsborough safety duties'

Former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell was in a position of real responsibility in his role as safety officer at Hillsborough, jurors were told.

The defendant – standing trial alongside 1989 FA Cup semi-final match commander David Duckenfield – is accused of contravening the Sheffield stadium’s safety certificate and committing a health and safety offence.

READ MORE: Duckenfield’s ‘extraordinary failures’caused deaths of 96 fans

Opening the case against him at Preston Crown Court, prosecutor Richard Matthews QC explained that the stadium was granted a safety certificate in 1979 by Sheffield County Council, which set out various conditions including some concerned with trying to ensure the safe operation of the ground for large crowds.

One of the conditions, he said, was for the club to agree with police – prior to the tie on April 15 – on the methods of entry into the stadium and that meant the arrangements of, and number of, turnstiles to be used for admission to the West Stand terraces and the north-west terraces at the Leppings Lane end.

Mr Matthews said: “It is the prosecution case that Mr Mackrell committed a criminal offence by agreeing to, or at the very least turning a ‘blind eye’ to, or by causing through his neglect of his duty, this breach by the club of this condition.

“There were a number of failings on the part of the club and those who were responsible for the safety certificate, and there may have been other breaches of the safety certificate by the club, but it is only the breach of Condition 6 by the club that Mr Mackrell is alleged to have agreed to, turned a ‘blind eye’ to or contributed through his neglect of duty as safety officer.”

Mackrell, 69, joined Sheffield Wednesday as club secretary at the end of 1986, the prosecutor continued, and he wrote to Sheffield City Council in October 1987 asking them to amend their records to show that he was responsible for all aspects of safety within the ground as the club’s safety officer.

Mr Matthews said the trial would hear some of the background to the disaster including criticisms of the structure of the stadium and the features of the inside of the stadium such as the signage.

None of the failings in this regard were alleged to have been caused by, or were the fault of, Mr Mackrell as they were put in place before he joined the club, but they would “form an important backdrop” to the allegations he faces, he said.

Mr Matthews said the second count the defendant is accused of, is failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of those affected by how he carried out his job.

This concerned the arrangements for admission and in particular taking care to see the turnstiles were sufficient to admit spectators at a rate whereby no unduly large crowds would be waiting to get in.

It also concerned the drawing up of contingency plans, in consultation with the emergency services, for coping where the available entrances at a ground have proved insufficient to stop an unduly large crowd from gathering outside, he said.

Mr Matthews said: “It is the prosecution’s case that Mr Mackrell effectively shrugged off all responsibility for these important aspects of the role he had taken on as safety officer.

“That abdication of responsibility continued from the time that his club was given the semi-final to host, on the 20th March 1989, right up to and including the day of the match and the unfolding events of the tragedy.”

Ninety-six Liverpool fans died in the crush in pens at the Leppings Lane end of the Hillsborough ground during a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Mackrell, of Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire, denies both offences.