South Yorkshire Chief Constable '˜unfairly dismissed over Hillsborough'

David Crompton lost his job at the head of South Yorkshire Police after the inquest into the deaths of 96 football fans ruled that police conduct contributed to or caused the disaster.

Concerns about public trust and confidence in the under-fire force led to his suspension on April 27.

Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor, who is required to give his views on the situation as part of dismissal proceedings, said criticisms of Mr Crompton were “conspicuously unfair” and he should be reinstated.

In a report seen by Channel 4 News, Sir Tom said the decision was “conspicuously unfair, disproportionate and so unreasonable that I cannot understand how the PCC (police and crime commissioner) has reached this view”.

The Yorkshire Post reported on Wednesday that Mr Crompton will be grilled about his force’s handling of the Hillsborough inquests at a key meeting on Friday which will help decide whether he loses his job.

Members of the local police and crime panel, largely made up of councillors, are to question Mr Crompton and the police and crime commissioner (PCC) Dr Alan Billings at a private meeting before deciding whether to support the PCC’s plan to effectively sack the chief constable.

Dr Billings suspended Mr Crompton on April 27, citing a loss of public trust amid fallout from the inquests and criticism South Yorkshire Police had re-run discredited arguments during the two-year long hearings seeking to blame Liverpool supporters for the 1989 disaster at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield. Any PCC using the legal power to require a chief constable to resign or retire must seek the views of Chief Inspector of Constabulary, currently Sir Tom Winsor, and the police and crime panel.

The embattled former chief constable was criticised by the families of Hillsborough victims due to the stance taken by police lawyers during the two years of proceedings.

Following the ruling, Mr Crompton reiterated an apology for the tragedy and said he accepted the findings of the inquest.

The Chief Inspector said Mr Crompton’s statement - in which he had said he was trying to put the behaviour of his force into “context” rather than justify it - was not an error of judgment, as had reportedly been suggested at the time.

According to Channel 4, Sir Tom said no-one who read the apology “could rationally have concluded that CC Crompton was refusing to accept the verdict of the jury or rescinding the full apology already made. He plainly was not.”

His suspension followed a torrid four years at the helm of the force which saw the organisation criticised for a range of different controversies.

As well as the policing of the Hillsborough disaster and the events that followed the 1989 tragedy, the force has been at the centre of the scandal over child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, the controversy surrounding a search of Sir Cliff Richard’s house and ongoing questions about the policing of the miners’ strike.