Final Hillsborough report work ongoing, police watchdog says

The IOPC investigation was first launched in 2012

A report on the Hillsborough disaster by the police watchdog will not be published before next year, over a decade after investigations launched.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is examining police actions during and after the 1989 tragedy.

A process allowing those criticised to respond to report findings will start in 2023, the watchdog said.

Known as the Salmon process, it is not known how long this will take.

Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died as a result of the crush at at an FA Cup semi-final Sheffield Wednesday's stadium on 15 April 1989.

The IOPC investigation was first launched in 2012 following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP) report and is the largest independent probe into alleged police misconduct and criminality ever carried out in England and Wales.

The final report will include all investigative work carried out by the IOPC and Operation Resolve - a criminal investigation set up to examine the events leading up to and on 15 April 1989.

It will also cover areas which have not been subject to a criminal inquiry before, such as the role that investigating force West Midlands Police played in the aftermath of the disaster.

Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died as a result of the disaster on 15 April 1989

Following the launch of the IOPC investigation, original inquest verdicts into the deaths were quashed and in 2016 new inquests found the victims were unlawfully killed and errors by South Yorkshire Police and the ambulance service caused or contributed to their deaths.

The only person to be convicted as a result of the probes is former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell, who was fined £6,500 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs after he was found guilty of failing to ensure the health and safety of fans arriving at the ground.

The match commander on the day, David Duckenfield, was charged with gross negligence manslaughter in 2017 but he was cleared in 2019 at a retrial, after the jury in his first trial was unable to reach a verdict.

Last year, retired officers Donald Denton and Alan Foster and former force solicitor Peter Metcalf were acquitted of perverting the course of justice after a judge ruled there was no case to answer.

Sir Norman Bettison, a chief inspector in 1989 who went on to become chief constable of Merseyside and West Yorkshire, was charged with misconduct in a public office as part of the investigation but the charges were dropped in August 2018.

Last July, Andrew Devine became the 97th victim of the disaster when he died more than 32 years after suffering life-changing injuries at Hillsborough.

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