The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Interim Report/Introduction
The Rt Hon Douglas Hurd CBE, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Department
THE HILLSBOROUGH STADIUM DISASTER
15 APRIL 1989
INTERIM REPORT OF INQUIRY
INTRODUCTION
1. On 15 April 1989 a football match to decide a semi-final round of the FA Cup competition was to be played between the Liverpool and Nottingham Forest Clubs. The neutral venue chosen was Hillsborough Football Stadium, Sheffield Wednesday's ground. Only six minutes into the game, play was stopped when it was realised that spectators on the terraces behind the Liverpool goal had been severely crushed. In the result, 95 died and over 400 received hospital treatment.
2. On 17 April 1989 I was appointed by you to carry out an Inquiry with the following terms of reference:
To inquire into the events at Sheffield Wednesday football ground on 15 April 1989 and to make recommendations about the needs of crowd control and safety at sports events.
3. Two Assessors were appointed to assist me: Mr Brian Johnson QPM, Chief Constable of Lancashire, and Professor Leonard Maunder OBE, BSc, PhD, ScD, FEng, FI Mech E, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Their help has been invaluable and I am very grateful for their expert advice and wise counsels. While the sole responsibility for this report is mine, I am comforted in the knowledge that both Assessors agree with it.
4. Mr Robert Whalley was appointed Secretary to the Inquiry. He and his assistants have worked prodigiously and skilfully to give me all the advice and support I could have wished. I also wish to acknowledge the help I have received, as always, from my clerk, Mr Ernest Pott.
5. The policing arrangements for 15 April were in the hands of the South Yorkshire Constabulary. The efficacy of those arrangements and their implementation was from an early stage called into question. It was therefore decided that the investigation of the disaster and the gathering of evidence for this Inquiry should be conducted by an independent police force. Mr Geoffrey Dear QPM, Chief Constable of West Midlands Constabulary, undertook this task. He was made responsible directly to me; he appointed Assistant Chief Constable Mervyn Jones to take full-time charge of the investigation. I am deeply indebted to both of them.
6. On 18 April I visited Hillsborough Stadium. I inspected the scene of the disaster on the terraces and all relevant parts of the stadium and its approaches. My Assessors and I have made further visits during the Inquiry. I also visited Liverpool on 21 and 29 April.
7. The Lord Mayor and the Sheffield City Council kindly offered to make the accommodation and facilities of Sheffield Town Hall available for the hearing of oral evidence. This offer was gratefully accepted and I would like to record my thanks for those facilities and for the co-operation afforded to the Inquiry by the authorities in Sheffield.
8. On 28 April 1989, I held a preliminary hearing to announce the date when the oral evidence would begin, to give some directions as to the procedure I intended to follow and to hear applications from those wishing to be represented at the hearing. I accorded representation to the following:
(i) Those bereaved or injured as a result of the disaster.
(ii) The Football Supporters' Association.
(iii) The Football Association.
(iv) Sheffield City Council.
(v) Sheffield Wednesday Football Club together with the Football League, the Club's casual staff and their insurers, the Sun Alliance.
(vi) South Yorkshire Constabulary.
(vii) South Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority.
Subsequently, during the hearing, I further accorded representation to:
and
9.Since the circumstances of the disaster raised urgent questions of safety, especially at football grounds, you indicated at the outset that you would welcome any recommendations, even of an interim nature, which I might be able to give in advance of the new football season due to commence in mid-August 1989. I therefore announced at the preliminary hearing on 28 April that I would conduct an oral hearing with all possible expedition as the first phase of the Inquiry to discover the facts and causes of the disaster and enable me to make any immediate interim recommendations necessary in the short term.
10.The West Midlands Police investigation began on 24 April. A "Freephone" number was advertised to enable members of the public, especially those who had attended the match, to offer their evidence to the Inquiry. Initially this number was available for three days on 28 different lines. The response from the public was such that the lines were continued for a further three days by the end of which 2,666 calls had been received. There were also many written offers of help. Some 440 West Midlands officers were deployed on the Inquiry. To service this operation, special police offices were established in Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield and computer technology was used to the full. In all some 3776 statements were taken. There were also some 1550 letters to Ministers, to the Inquiry and to me personally all of which I read. The police, Sheffield Wednesday Football Club and the BBC had video cameras filming at the ground on 15 April. In aggregate, they recorded some 71 hours of film covering the period before, during and after the disaster. Thus the material gathered and potentially available for presentation at the oral hearing was enormous. From this mass it was essential to select only sufficient good and reliable evidence necessary to establish the facts and causes of the disaster.
11.Where it seemed likely that any allegation or criticism might be made of the conduct of any person or party, the Treasury Solicitor, after consultation with Counsel for the Inquiry, wrote to the party concerned setting out the likely grounds for complaint. This followed the practice established by the Royal Commission on Tribunals of Inquiry (the Salmon Commission).
12.The hearing began on 15 May. It continued, sitting long hours, for 31 days concluding on 29 June. In that period, 174 witnesses gave oral evidence. Counsel's submissions were delivered in writing on 7 July and on 14 July I heard their brief oral submissions supplementing the written argument.
13.Witnesses were not sworn. Since this is a departmental inquiry, there was no power to administer the oath but there was no instance of any witness giving evidence which I considered might have been different had he or she been sworn.
14.The witnesses called were only a small fraction of those from whom statements were or could have been taken. Nevertheless, I am satisfied that they were sufficient in number and reliability to enable me to reach the necessary conclusions. To have called more would have prevented me from presenting an interim report in the required time and would not have added significantly to the relevant evidence. I have, however, been able to take into account many written statements in addition to oral testimony.
15.Apart from the evidence called by Counsel for the Inquiry which was drawn from statements taken by the West Midlands Police and others volunteered by individuals, each of the represented parties was given full opportunity to put forward any witnesses they considered should be called. A final submission was made by Counsel for the South Yorkshire Police that since the investigation by West Midlands Police is still continuing, all the evidence has not been assembled and it would be unsafe for me to make findings of fact. I should therefore make clear that the investigation continues principally to furnish as much detail as possible to HM Coroner for the City of Sheffield as to the cause of death, the precise position at death and the care and movement of each of the 95 victims individually. I am assured by Chief Constable Dear and Assistant Chief Constable Mervyn Jones that it is most unlikely any further evidence gathered will significantly alter or add to the history of events which emerged at the hearing.
16.I should like to thank all those who made it possible for the oral hearing to take place so soon after the event and for evidence to be efficiently presented and tested so as to give a full and fair account of what happened in all its aspects without irrelevancy or duplication. I pay tribute particularly to the West Midlands Police for their speed and dedication in gathering the evidence and to all those responsible for processing it. The most eloquent tribute to the fairness and thoroughness of the police investigation came from the Secretary of the Football Supporters' Association. He said there had been initial anxiety in Liverpool as to whether that investigation would be fair and objective. His Association therefore collected 200 witness statements themselves. Having heard the opening statement by Counsel to the Inquiry based upon the evidence gathered by the police, he found that it accorded entirely with his Association's evidence and the initial anxiety was wholly dispelled.
17.Before and during the Inquiry I derived great assistance on a wide range of technical issues from the Health and Safety Executive who providentially have a laboratory in Sheffield (the Research and Laboratory Services Division) where tests were conducted and reports prepared swiftly and efficiently. This was done in close consultation with Professor Maunder. I am most grateful to the Director, Dr A Jones, and to the Deputy Director, Dr C E Nicholson, for their invaluable help.
18.I wish to commend Counsel to the inquiry, Mr Andrew Collins QC, Mr Alan Goldsack and Mr Bernard Phillips for their industry, care and fairness in selecting and presenting the necessary evidence; also, Counsel for all those represented who tested that evidence fully but expeditiously. This Interim Report could not possibly have been prepared in so short a time had I not had the whole-hearted co-operation of all those mentioned and many others.
19.The second phase of the Inquiry will be directed to making final and long term recommendations about crowd control and safety at sports grounds. I need to consider in depth information, opinions and arguments from a wide range of sources and contributors both here and abroad. It was clear from the outset that this second phase could not be carried to completion before the next football season. However, at an early stage of the oral hearing I invited evidence from all who wished to contribute to it and specifically from many sporting, local authority, emergency service and police bodies as well as technical consultants. I asked that submissions should be in writing and should be made promptly so that the second phase of the Inquiry could follow immediately after the first. I shall now proceed to consider the large body of written evidence which has been submitted. I shall want in some instances to have further oral evidence or discussion in conjunction with my Assessors. We will also need to make a number of visits and inspections.
20.I now present my Interim Report and Recommendations. I shall prepare my Final Report and Recommendations as soon as reasonably possible.