Hillsborough


In June 2017, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that it would be charging six people with criminal offences relating to the deaths of 96 people at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final that was held in the Hillsborough football stadium and the alleged police cover-up that followed. Among the six to be charged is Graham Mackrell, the Sheffield Wednesday chief executive and officially designated safety officer for the Hillsborough stadium. He is charged with breaching the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 and failing to take reasonable care under the Health and Safety at Work Act.


The CPS conducted a review of the evidence after inquests into the tragedy concluded in 2016 that the 96 football fans that died at Hillsborough on 15 April 1989 were unlawfully killed. The inquests into the Hillsborough disaster constitute the longest case ever heard by a jury in British legal history.


Hillsborough match commander for the South Yorkshire Police, David Duckenfield faces charges of manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 people while the other individuals will be charged with misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice. Operation Resolve, which investigated the causes of the disaster, and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) passed files of evidence relating to 23 suspects, including individuals and organisations, to the CPS earlier in the year.