Police chief helped force create under-fire report into tragedy

WEST Yorkshire chief constable Sir Norman Bettison was involved in producing a key internal report that cast aspersions on Liverpool fans following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

Sir Norman, then a chief inspector with South Yorkshire Police, was part of an inner circle of senior officers who assembled a report which the Hillsborough Independent Panel highlighted for its role in condemning supporters.

The panel findings, released on Wednesday, made plain that South Yorkshire Police had attempted to besmirch the reputation of Liverpool supporters despite there being no evidence to back the force’s claims.

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Closer reading of the panel’s report reveals references to an internal report drawn up in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy by five senior officers, including Chief Insp Bettison.

The unit was led by Chief Supt Terry Wain, under the direction of Deputy Chief Constable Peter Hayes, but the report noted Chief Insp Bettison deputised in Chief Supt Wain’s absence. The panel said this team “was involved in an intensive exercise to establish the police case”.

The internal unit’s work, which included gathering statements from officers, produced what was known as the Wain Report. It was used by the force’s legal counsel to inform South Yorkshire Police’s (SYP) submission to the Lord Justice Taylor’s inquiry, which immediately followed the disaster.

The panel’s report said: “A subsequent internal report (‘the Wain Report’) informed the SYP submission to the Taylor Inquiry. Key elements of the SYP submission emphasised exceptional, aggressive and unanticipated crowd behaviour: large numbers of ticketless, drunk and obstinate fans involved in a concerted action, even ‘conspiracy’, to enter the stadium.”

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The Wain Report, which was among documents published along with the panel’s findings, includes numerous references to alcohol, ticketless fans and aggressive fans drawn from officer statements.

But the panel has made clear the police stance was utterly discredited. It said: “It is evident from the disclosed documents that from the outset SYP sought to establish a case emphasising exceptional levels of drunkenness and aggression among Liverpool fans, alleging that many arrived at the stadium late, without tickets and determined to force entry.”

And the panel added: “Consistent with Lord Justice Taylor’s findings, the Panel found no evidence among the vast number of disclosed documents and many hours of video material to verify the serious allegations of exceptional levels of drunkenness, ticketlessness or violence among Liverpool fans. There was no evidence that fans had conspired to arrive late at the stadium and force entry...”

Sir Norman’s name also appears in a chapter covering the panel’s investigation into “the origins, promotion and reproduction of unsubstantiated allegations” in relation to an October 1989 meeting of South Yorkshire Police Federation which formulated a response to criticism in the Interim Taylor Report. Chief insp Bettison showed a heavily-edited 29-minute video of the disaster he put together from 65 hours of footage.

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The panel said: “The South Yorkshire Police Federation held a meeting in Sheffield attended by its Parliamentary representative, Michael Shersby MP. Records of the meeting disclosed to the Panel show that the Police Federation considered the Interim Report was unfair and unbalanced. Mr Shersby was invited to assist in the development of a ‘counter attack’ to ‘repudiate’ Lord Justice Taylor’s findings.

“The meeting’s afternoon session heard from unnamed police officers who repeated the allegations of exceptional levels of abuse, drunkenness and violence. The Interim Report was dismissed as a ‘whitewash’ and the meeting would provide the basis for promoting the police version of events through ‘public channels’.

A month later, Supt Bettison, who had been recently promoted, went to Parliament and showed his video to a group of 12 MPs.

Sir Norman did not respond to a request to comment on the specific issues of his involvement in the Wain Report or with the police federation.

Comment: Page 12.