Liverpool FC - Hillsborough Disaster: this newspaper has a direct message for the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police
Today, this newspaper is appealing directly to the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police to do everything in her power in order to put the record straight once and for all about what happened to the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster.
That parents of children taken too soon, fledgling lives lost in the crush at Sheffield Wednesday’s football stadium, are still having to fight tooth and nail for something as simple as the truth is a stain not only on the reputation of Chief Constable Lauren Poultney’s police force, but on Sheffield itself – a state of affairs that will surely gnaw away at the conscience of Chief Constable Poultney.
This is an opportunity to offer more than mere words: by putting straight – or doing everything possible to ensure that happens – the record of what happened on that day in 1989, in this case to the daughters of Trevor and Jenni Hicks, it is a chance to show genuine, sincere regret, remorse and sorrow.
Their daughters, Sarah, 19 and Victoria, 15, deserve better. As does each and every family impacted by the events of that day, when 97 people ultimately lost their lives.
Yet, scandalously, the record remains incorrect: unless something is done, a lie will remain unchecked forever in the annals of history; a demonstrably false legal record will prevail, forever casting a shadow of shame over South Yorkshire, Sheffield and those charged with keeping Sheffielders safe.
Chief Constable Poultney will surely be as frustrated as anyone else is, that the wrongdoer, here, is, in effect, holding the truth hostage.
But keeping captive the truth is not an option: the lie that sits on the public record will perpetually rot, polluting the atmosphere at South Yorkshire Police, the sense of injustice and distrust attaching themselves to the officers of today and tomorrow – to officers who do not deserve such association with what happened at that FA Cup semi-final.
Issuing a fresh apology is welcome, however, not doing the right thing only compounds the wider belief that even after all these years, South Yorkshire Police is in denial. In that context, it is understandable why many people do not believe the force has, or ever will, change for the better.
Chief Constable, on behalf of the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster, this newspaper implores of you: please. Do the right thing.