Liverpool FC Forum

[Reg]

Meeting over Hillsborough officer

7:35am Wednesday 24th October 2012 in National News© Press Association 2012

Sir Norman Bettison was a chief inspector with South Yorkshire Police at the time of the Hillsborough disaster

Police authority members will meet again to discuss the position of under-fire West Yorkshire Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison.

The West Yorkshire authority has not said why its Special Committee is convening in Wakefield but the meeting comes the day after Mark Burns-Williamson - who chaired the authority until a fortnight ago - called for Sir Norman to step down immediately.

Mr Burns-Williamson called for the chief to go, following new claims that Sir Norman had boasted about being asked to help "concoct" South Yorkshire Police's version of events following the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed 96 lives in 1989.

These claims were raised by Merseyside MP and shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle in the Commons on Monday.

She quoted a letter from former civil servant John Barry that detailed comments he said Sir Norman made when they were both part-time students in Sheffield.

Later, Mr Barry repeated his claims in a TV interview saying the police officer told him: "I've been asked by senior officers to pull together the South Yorkshire Police evidence of the public inquiry and we're going to try and concoct a story that all the Liverpool fans were drunk and that we were afraid they were going to force down the gates so we decided to open them."

Mr Burns-Williamson, who resigned as police authority chairman earlier this month as he is now Labour's candidate to become West Yorkshire Police & Crime Commissioner, said: "In light of the new evidence given in Parliament yesterday I feel Sir Norman Bettison should stand down now in the best interests of West Yorkshire Police."

Sir Norman was a chief inspector with South Yorkshire Police at the time of the disaster.

He attended the match at Sheffield Wednesday's ground as a spectator but, after the disaster, he was involved in the subsequent force investigation.

The chief, who has always denied any wrongdoing, was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission over claims that he gave misleading information in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster and that he tried to influence West Yorkshire Police Authority's decision-making process in relation to the referral.
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We need to get this kunt.  Who hasn't signed up yet?

[devaney]

I have always considered the Hillsborough disaster to be the result of a combination of misguided and catastrophic errors on a disgraceful scale. Late arriving fans possibly didn't help the situation. However, we rely heavily on the police to control match day crowds and ensure their safety and they failed miserably to execute their duties in a satisfactory and responsible manner and therefore should be held totally responsible for the untimely deaths of 96 innocent supporters.

For  a very long time I have had serious misgivings about the quality of our police force and the recent disgusting cover up findings have simply confirmed my worst suspicions. How was a cover up of this magnitude kept hidden for over twenty three years. Just how much of this behaviour continues today?

IF THE ACCUSATIONS AIMED AT BETTISON AND HIS SENIOR COLLEAGUES ARE SUBSTANTIATED THEN THEY SHOULD BE JAILED AND STRIPPED OF ANY BENEFITS ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR POSITION.

[Thommo's perm]

9,545 now

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/39775

Sack him and jail the dog

[stmichael]

bettison has resigned with immediate effect

JFT96

[fivecups]

bettison has resigned with immediate effect

JFT96

An admission of guilt? Or a way to avoid trial, equivalent to retiring? What about his pension?

[fivecups]

bettison has resigned with immediate effect

JFT96

An admission of guilt? Or a way to avoid trial, equivalent to retiring? What about his pension?

He says he's retired, which I guess means full pension and no requirement to attend the IPCC hearings. I don't think that should be allowed to happen. And as for that knighthood.......

[stmichael]

bettison has resigned with immediate effect

JFT96

An admission of guilt? Or a way to avoid trial, equivalent to retiring? What about his pension?

Shouln't get a pension. Resignations alone aren't justice. 96 died needlessly, and there was a huge conspiracy to smear and cover-up. People must go to jail.

[devaney]

bettison has resigned with immediate effect

JFT96

An admission of guilt? Or a way to avoid trial, equivalent to retiring? What about his pension?

Shouln't get a pension. Resignations alone aren't justice. 96 died needlessly, and there was a huge conspiracy to smear and cover-up. People must go to jail.

I agree. I would give the the unscrupulous low life's their 11% pension contributions back with interest and tell them to use the money to get a decent lawyer.

[Reg]

bettison has resigned with immediate effect

JFT96

An admission of guilt? Or a way to avoid trial, equivalent to retiring? What about his pension?

He says he's retired, which I guess means full pension and no requirement to attend the IPCC hearings. I don't think that should be allowed to happen. And as for that knighthood.......

Don't be so pessimistic - he could of resigned to avoid the embarassment of being arrested whilst in office!

We have to trust in the law.

[Kenny Kan]

Don't be so pessimistic - he could of resigned to avoid the embarassment of being arrested whilst in office!

We have to trust in the law.

The same law that let these folk down in the first place, yeah right.

[Benny The Noon]

bettison has resigned with immediate effect

JFT96

An admission of guilt? Or a way to avoid trial, equivalent to retiring? What about his pension?

He says he's retired, which I guess means full pension and no requirement to attend the IPCC hearings. I don't think that should be allowed to happen. And as for that knighthood.......

He has resigned not retired.

[stmichael]

blatantly jumped before he was pushed

[Reg]

West Yorkshire chief constable Sir Norman Bettison resigns following criticism of his conduct after the Hillsborough disaster

John Hall  Wednesday 24 October 2012

Sir Norman Bettison, the West Yorkshire chief constable at the centre of criticism over the Hillsborough disaster, has resigned.

He tendered his resignation ahead of a meeting today which was scheduled to consider his role in the aftermath of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, which he investigated for South Yorkshire Police.

In a statement, Sir Norman said he had never blamed the fans for the tragedy: “First, and foremost, the Hillsborough tragedy 23 years ago left 96 families bereaved and countless others injured and affected by it.

”I have always felt the deepest compassion and sympathy for the families, and I recognise their longing to understand exactly what happened on that April afternoon…I have never blamed the fans for causing the tragedy.“

Sir Norman also dismissed reports of a conversation he had in a pub in which he allegedly said he was ”concocting“ a story for South Yorkshire Police.

He said; ”The suggestion that I would say to a passing acquaintance that I was deployed as part of a team tasked to 'concoct a false story of what happened', is both incredible and wrong. That isn't what I was tasked to do, and I did not say that.“

Sir Norman said the police authority and some of the candidates in the forthcoming PCC elections made it clear that they wanted him to go.

”I do so, not because of any allegations about the past, but because I share the view that this has become a distraction to policing in West Yorkshire now and in the future.“

In September this year, Sir Norman risked angering survivors as he once again called into question the behaviour of fans during the match. He added, however, that he did not believe their conduct ”caused the disaster“.

In the September 13 statement, Bettison described his role on April 15, 1989 and wrote: “I sat through every single day of the Taylor Inquiry, in the summer of 1989. I learned so much. Taylor was right in saying that the disaster was caused, mainly, through a lack of police control.

“Fans' behaviour, to the extent that it was relevant at all, made the job of the police, in the crush outside Leppings Lane turnstiles, harder than it needed to be.

But it didn't cause the disaster any more than the sunny day that encouraged people to linger outside the stadium as kick off approached.

“I held those views then, I hold them now. I have never, since hearing the Taylor evidence unfold, offered any other interpretation in public or private.”

At the time of the Hillsborough tragedy Sir Norman was a South Yorkshire Police inspector who attended the match as a spectator and later took part in an internal inquiry.

Earlier this month he announced his decision to retire from the service next March, but calls for him to go sooner have grown.

Yesterday two of the four candidates bidding to be West Yorkshire's new Police and Crime Commissioner called for him to stand down.

West Yorkshire Police Authority vice-chair Les Carter today said: “I can confirm that the Police Authority has accepted Sir Norman's resignation with immediate effect.

”The media attention and Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation is proving to be a huge distraction for the force, at a time when it is trying to maintain performance and make savings of £100 million...We therefore believe that his decision is in the best interest of the communities of West Yorkshire."

“It should be recognised that Sir Norman has served West Yorkshire well. He has reduced crime, increased confidence in policing and made a huge contribution to neighbourhood policing. On behalf of the Police Authority, I would like to thank him for what he has achieved here and wish him the best for the future.”

Margaret Aspinall, chairwoman of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, welcomed the announcement but said Sir Norman's pension should be frozen while the investigation takes place into the police cover-up highlighted by the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

She said: “I'm absolutely delighted he's gone but as far as I am concerned he should have been sacked...I would now like to know what payments and pension he's going to get...Any financial benefits should be frozen until the outcome of the investigation into the cover-up.

“This is not the end of it, the next thing is to make sure his role is properly investigated,” she added.

Mrs Aspinall, who lost her 18-year-old son James in the disaster, said the families had “no vendetta” against the former chief constable.

“He's not the only one who we believe took part in this cover-up. But as a senior officer he should have been honest from the very beginning...He allowed the families to suffer for 23-years while knowing the truth all along.”

[Reg]

This is good news - he realises the enquiry will be thorough and he has no other way out. The other bent coppers will no doubt see his resignation as the beginning of their end as well.

[Reg]

Don't be so pessimistic - he could of resigned to avoid the embarassment of being arrested whilst in office!

We have to trust in the law.

The same law that let these folk down in the first place, yeah right.

Stop stalking me or I'll tell the coppers!