In summing up the seven-week trial, Judge Sir Peter Openshaw ordered the jury to consider five questions. Only if they answered "Yes" to each question could they proceed to the next.

And they could only find Mr Duckenfield guilty of gross negligence manslaughter in the event of them answering Yes to each and every question.

Image source, PA Media

Jurors were asked whether they "could be sure the defendant David Duckenfield owed a duty of care to the spectators attending the match?"

The court heard Benjamin Myers QC, defending Mr Duckenfield, accepted the now 75-year-old retired chief superintendent had owed a duty of care in law to the spectators attending the match to take reasonable care for their safety.

The chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, Margaret Aspinall, lost her 18-year-old son James in the disaster.

She said she "has no faith" in the British legal justice system.

Image source, Hillsborough Inquests

She said:

Sue Hemming, the Crown Prosecution Service's Director of Legal Services, said: “The disaster at Hillsborough 30 years ago has caused unimaginable suffering to the families of those who sadly lost their lives and to everybody affected by the tragic events of that day.

"They were let down with the most catastrophic consequences imaginable. I know how important these proceedings have been to everyone, even though they came far too late.

“The events of 15 April 1989 have been considered on a number of occasions, including at the second inquest concluding in 2016.

"It is important to remember that criminal proceedings have a very different purpose to an inquest.

"The not guilty verdict today does not affect or alter the inquest jury’s findings of unlawful killing or their conclusion that Liverpool fans were in no way responsible for the 96 deaths that resulted.

“It was vitally important that the facts and accounts of what happened leading up to that terrible day were heard in a criminal court and the outcome determined by a jury.

"This was a complex and harrowing case and presenting evidence about events of 30 years ago has not been straightforward.

“We are acutely aware of how disappointing the verdict is for families who have waited anxiously for today, however we respect the decision of the jury.

"We have remained in regular contact with families throughout the trial and, as we have done at all key stages of these investigations, we will meet with them again to answer any questions they may have.

“On behalf of the team, I would like to commend the ongoing bravery and dignity that the families have shown throughout these two trials and we extend our thanks and admiration to those who courageously gave heartfelt accounts of some of the darkest hours of their lives.”

Former sergeant William Crawford, who was on duty on the day of the Hillsborough disaster, said: "I don't blame David Duckenfield... I blame the person who put him in that position."

He said the match commander's role was a "poisoned chalice" and he "didn't have the experience" to be in charge of the ill-fated FA Cup semi-final match, which resulted in the death of 96 Liverpool fans.

Image source, PA

Lauren Hirst
BBC News

As news spread that a verdict was imminent, many bereaved families, friends and survivors gathered in the Cunard Building on Liverpool’s waterfront to watch a live feed from Preston Crown Court.

In the final moment before the jury’s verdict was announced, tension filled the room - silence as their eyes were transfixed on the television screens in front of them.

Since the first day of the seven-week trial, many have gathered on the sixth floor here to watch the proceedings.

Gasps filled the air followed by the cries of grief-stricken loved ones as the jury returned its not-guilty verdict.

Shell-shocked, inconsolable, some shouted in disgust while others turned to each other and embraced in silence, utterly heartbroken by today’s verdict.

One of the 96 Hillsborough victims was Henry Burke. His daughter Chrissie cried as the jury found David Duckenfield not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter.

Image source, Getty Images

Ms Burke stood in the public gallery and addressed the judge, Sir Peter Openshaw.

Referring to the jury's conclusion at the Hillsborough Inquests in 2016, she said: "With all due respect, my lord, 96 people were found unlawfully killed to a criminal standard."

Now in tears, she went on: "I would like to know who is responsible for my father's death because someone is."

Duckenfield's wife, Ann, later went over to comfort her husband in the courtroom.

The criminal investigation team examining the disaster was called Operation Resolve. After the acquittal of David Duckenfield, its commander, Assistant Commissioner Rob Beckley, said:

"My first thoughts are with the 96 people who died in the Hillsborough disaster, their families, and the thousands of people who have been deeply affected by the events of 15th April 1989.

"The jury had a difficult and challenging task examining evidence going back decades and I respect their decision.

"It may sound like a cliché to say “lessons must be learnt”, but today’s verdict means this has never been more relevant or important .It is right that an impartial and thorough investigation was carried out, and it is right that a jury was asked to make a judgement of the facts. What is wrong is that it has taken 30 years to get to this point.

"The passage of 30 years has presented challenges for everyone involved in the legal process, prosecution and defence. Thirty years means evidence has been corroded and some people and organisations cannot answer for their actions because they are no longer with us.

"Thirty years means myths took root about fans being a cause of the disaster, now unequivocally shown by both defence and prosecution evidence to be wrong.

"And 30 years means many people, especially families, have had to constantly relive their terrible experience.

"When all Hillsborough legal proceedings are concluded we should, as a society, take time to consider these matters and learn lessons. For the sake of the 96 innocent people who died 30 years ago, something like this should never happen again."

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said the outcome was a "huge disappointment."

Image source, PA Media

The acquittal of David Duckenfield is the latest twist in the history of a disaster which has lasted 30 years. For all that time, the families of those who died, and the survivors of the crush, have campaigned for justice and accountability.

David Duckenfield has now stood trial three times. The first two juries - in Leeds 19 years ago, and in Preston earlier this year - were unable to reach verdicts. Now, at the third time of asking, a jury has made a clear decision about the Hillsborough match commander's criminal liability.

He was charged with the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans at an FA Cup Semi Final in Sheffield in 1989. Legally, the 96th victim, Tony Bland, could not be included in the prosecution as he died nearly 4 years later.

Mr Duckenfield did not dispute that he ordered the opening of a gate at Hillsborough to let fans in, or that he failed to close the tunnel to the terraces which were already full.

In 2015 at the Hillsborough Inquests he accepted that this was the direct cause of the 96 deaths. But an inquest is not a criminal court, and so it was for another jury to decide whether Mr Duckenfield's mistakes amounted to gross negligence manslaughter.

The crown's case was that the Chief Superintendent's failings were so extraordinary that they met that test.

But the jury accepted the defence case that the 75-year-old was a target of blame who was unfairly singled out for prosecution.

He will now be able to resume his life in retirement on the south coast. But the Hillsborough families and survivors will find the outcome hard to take… and will ask hard questions about the £65m spent on a criminal investigation which has ended with no one convicted for so many lives lost.

Ninety-six Liverpool fans were killed in Britain's deadliest sporting disaster - the youngest was aged just 10, the oldest was 67.

Image source, bbc / various

The older brother of Steven Robinson, who died at the age of 17 in the Hillsborough disaster, says he is “bitterly disappointed” by the not-guilty verdict, but thanked the jury “for what must have been a long and difficult trial for them to sit through”.

Image source, Family photo

Speaking on behalf of his family, Paul Robinson, 50, from Crosby, Liverpool, said:

The 10 jurors at Preston Crown Court retired on Monday afternoon to consider their verdict.

Shortly after 14:00 the judge ruled that he would accept a majority verdict on which at least nine were in agreement.

The jury delivered its verdict after 13 hours and 43 minutes.

Andy Gill
Reporter, BBC North West Tonight

Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield has been found not guilty of the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans in the 1989 disaster.

Retired South Yorkshire Police Ch Supt Duckenfield, 75, was cleared after a seven-week retrial at Preston Crown Court.

The jury at his original trial earlier this year failed to agree a verdict.

Mr Duckenfield, now of Ferndown, Dorset was in charge of the FA Cup semi-final at which 96 Liverpool fans died.