Top police figure in fight to save job

West Yorkshire Police Authority are preparing to fast-track a referral of Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison to the Independent Police Complaints Commissions (IPCC) following discussions with colleagues in South Yorkshire.

Sir Norman was a senior officer in South Yorkshire at the time of the 1989 tragedy, and this week’s independent panel revealed full details of his role in its aftermath – helping to prepare a report and a video which both made repeated claims about drunk and unruly fans.

He is now fighting to save his career, and was forced to apologise yesterday after issuing a statement which claimed the behaviour of Liverpool fans at the stadium had affected the job of police officers during the disaster, in which 96 innocent people died.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said his remarks – that fans had “made things harder than they needed to be” for police – were “ill-judged and insensitive”.

“If I was a family on Merseyside of someone who died on that day, I would be livid,” the Sheffield Hallam MP added.

Sir Norman was forced to issue a second statement yesterday in which he apologised for his earlier comments, but again insisted he had done nothing wrong.

“Let me speak very clearly,” he said. “The fans of Liverpool Football Club were in no way to blame for the disaster.

“I can be no plainer than that and I am sorry if my earlier statement, intended to convey the same message, has caused any further upset.”

On his own role, he added: “My role was never to besmirch the fans. I did not do that. I am deeply sorry that impression and slight has lingered for 23 years.”

On Wednesday the Hillsborough Independent Panel published its 400-page report into the disaster, exonerating Liverpool fans of any blame and revealing a full-scale cover-up by the authorities.

More than 100 police statements were doctored to remove negative references to the force, and criminal record checks and blood alcohol tests run on victims in an effort to “impugn their character”.

Erroneous briefings were given to the Press by senior police officers blaming drunken and violent fans for what happened.

Sir Norman has always insisted he was not involved in the doctoring of any statements at the force.

But the victims’ families have called for his resignation, highlighting the role he played in preparing the force’s case against the fans and questioning the real extent of his knowledge about the cover-up.

Margaret Aspinall, whose son James died in the disaster, said: “He says he only played a peripheral role, and he didn’t give any order for any statements to be altered. But then why (in his eyes) were they altered? He must have seen that when he was looking at them.”

West Yorkshire Police Authority said on Thursday it was launching an internal investigation of Sir Norman, and a special committee would meet at the “earliest opportunity” under the chairmanship of former probation officer Richard Baldwin. It now appears Sir Norman’s case will be handed to the IPCC.

Chairman Mark Burns-Williamson said: “After contact with South Yorkshire Police, we are now aware the investigations into any conduct matters by their officers are to be referred to the IPCC.

“Having considered all circumstances, including the referral 
by South Yorkshire to the IPCC, the authority’s special committee will meet at the earliest opportunity.

“They will decide whether any conduct matters or public complaints about the Chief Constable should be recorded, and whether any matters should be referred to the IPCC.”