Hillsborough Tragedy Report Enters New Round, Finds 12 Police Officers Will Face Serious Violation Cases

The victims of the Hillsborough tragedy are still demanding justice (Instagram/@liverpoolfc).

JAKARTA - An investigation into the Hillsborough tragedy found 12 police officers would face a serious breach of fundamental failure that day and a concerted attempt to blame supporters afterward.

A report published on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, local time, by the Office of Independent for Police Behavior (IOPC) also strengthens or finds cases that must be accounted for for for infringements in 92 complaints about police actions.

However, the law at the time meant no officers would face a disciplinary process as they had all retired before the investigation began.

An investigation into the tragedy by the IOPC and the Criminal Investigation Team Operation Resolve began in 2012, following the publication of a Hillsborough Independent Panel report and cost more than 150 million pounds.

Nicola Brook, a lawyer at Broudie Jackson Canter who represents some grieving families, said it was a bitter injustice when no one would be held accountable.

"This result may justify bereaved families and survivors who have struggled for decades to reveal the truth, but do not provide justice."

"On the other hand, this reveals a system that allows officers to just leave, retire without supervision, sanctions, or consequences for failing to meet standards that are entitled to be expected by the public."

"Yes, the law has now changed so that this gap cannot be used in the future. However, for those affected by this case, it is not entertainment."

"They were faced with another bitter injustice, the truth was finally recognized, but accountability was denied," said Nicola Brook as quoted by ESPN.

Among those who should be responsible for serious offenses if they were still on duty were then South Yorkshire Police Chief Peter Wright and match commander David Duckenfield, and Sir Norman Bettison, who later became Merseyside Police Chief.

Tens of seven Liverpool fans were killed in the FA Cup semifinals on April 15, 1989, when police opened the exit gate to the stadium to reduce the density outside and failed to direct the fans away from the tunnel to the middle stands where the incident occurred.

Deputy Director-General of the IOPC, Kathie Cashell, said the victims, their families, and survivors had repeatedly been disappointed.

"First, the lack of satisfaction with the South Yorkshire Police in preparation for the match, followed by their fundamental failure to understand the disaster that occurred."

"Then, through the integrated efforts of the police to shift the blame to Liverpool supporters, which caused tremendous suffering to the bereaved family and survivors for nearly four decades."

"They were again disappointed by the very narrow investigation into the tragedy carried out by the West Midlands Police, which was an opportunity to miss this failure much sooner," said Kathie Cashell.

West Midlands officers who led the tragedy investigation, Mervyn Jones, who served as assistant to the police chief, and then chief detective, Michael Foster, were referred to the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) for their failure. However, the prosecution threshold was not met.

The IOPC said the two former officers would face a case of serious offenses after failing to carry out a rigorous investigation because they were biased against the police and supporters.

Duckenfield, 81, who served as police chief on the day, was acquitted of murder charges for gross negligence by a jury in 2019.

The IOPC report stated that it was frozen in crisis and found it had to account for its case for a serious 10 counts of abuse, including for not responding and informing FA officials (British Football Association), which he later admitted as a lie that supporters had forced their way in.

The report notes that allegations against supporters are to blame for the tragedy have been completely denied in a new investigation, which in 2016 concluded that supporters had been killed illegally.

Other officers who will face cases of serious abuses related to their actions that day are Duckenfield deputy police chief Bernard Murray and his superiors, assistant police chief Walter Jackson - who also failed in planning matches - as well as officers on duty at the tip of Leppings Lane, Roger Marshall, a supervisor who was then inspector, Harry White, and John Morgan who was a sergeant.

The equestrian police, David Scott, will also face a case of serious violations from the IOPC. He said his horse was burned by cigarettes from Liverpool supporters - an incident that evidence said did not occur.

South Yorkshire Police Chief Wright, who died in 2011, was declared insensitive by investigators investigating allegations that he was trying to spread false narratives and would be responsible for the case as he sought to escape charges.

Sir Norman, who at the time served as the head inspector, should have had a case to answer regarding allegations that he was deliberately dishonest about his involvement in the tragedy when he proposed to the police chief on Merseyside and misled the public in a press statement.

Retired police chief, who also leads the West Yorkshire Police, was charged with infringement in public office as part of an investigation, but the case was terminated in 2018.

The IOPC found that the retired police chief, detective inspector Alan Foster, should have had a case of serious offenses to answer on charges that he pressured officers who rejected the amendments to their statements.

Foster, along with former chief inspector Donald Denton and police attorney Peter Metcalf, was charged with committing acts that tended and intended to hinder the course of justice.

However, in the middle of their trial in 2021, a judge ruled that no case should be answered.

Investigators found that the South Yorkshire Police were indeed trying to divert errors from the police over the tragedy.

However, Cashell said they found no evidence of planned hiding efforts to reach the threshold for evidence they needed to meet.

The report also states there is no evidence that an attempt to divert the error is related to Freemasonry or an attempt to protect a Freemason.

The only person convicted for the investigation was former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell, who was fined 6,500 and ordered to pay a fee of 5,000 after being found guilty of failing to guarantee the health and safety of supporters arriving at the stadium.