Hillsborough. Police did doctor evidence in a bid to avoid blame.

[Darkesteyeswithflecksofgold]

A report in the Independent about the cover up. RIP to the people who lost their lives on 15th April 1989.
And condolences to the families who are still suffering.

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/exclusive-hillsborough--police-did-doctor-evidence-in-bid-to-avoid-blame-8126233.html

'But please do not portray the people of Liverpool as poor little victims who have been bullied by the rest of the country'. Agreed.

Football fans and victims of a preventable disaster were (and are) subjected to propaganda and contemptible lies. Far from being professional mourners/victims, the events of last week vindicate the courageous families and their 23 year fight.

I am proud to be from Liverpool and am not a victim. The fact remains that people do believe stereotypical Scouser bullshit and that is their problem (and not mine).

People will believe any bullshit if it's printed and in a newspaper.

So it was at Hillsborough that the yobs made enough nuisance of themselves to convince the police that so-called gates of Hell were opened? the gatecrashers wreaked their fatal havoc. At best it was unfettered zeal. At worst it was uncontrolled fanaticism and mass hysteria which literally squeezed the life out of men, women and children. This was yobbism at its most base. People without tickets who had no right to be there were crushing to death their fellow Scousers. When it comes to apportioning blame, the accusatory finger can also be pointed at Liverpool. Scouse killed Scouse for no better reason than 22 men were kicking a ball.

Guess what paper this was in? The Liverpool Daily Post. Now stop saying it had anything to do with how the rest of the country perceive scousers.

The horrific events of that day were preventable and those responsible should be held to account.

This disaster could have happened in another city to different fans. It didn't and so it is hard for me to speculate how different/similar the aftermath would have been.

Hillsborough: I walked one way. The less fortunate walked another describes the shift in attitude towards Liverpudlians that is palpable to me now. The lies told at the time (and believed still) were based on offensive stereotypes. Families have fought with valiantly to clear the names of those concerned.

Channel 4 news doorstepped Kelvin McKenzie this morning.

blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/mackenzie-hillsborough-lies/2697

Who is allowed to ask MacKenzie questions then?

I was just wondering the very same thing. I clearly heard the cunt McKenzie say hes doing an interview next week.
I think the full report of this doorstepping is going out on channel 4 news tonight.

Wonder if he is being paid for an exclusive?

I heard the reporter repeat 'Be reasonable?' and then 'That's rich coming from you!' How many journos (from that paper) have doorstepped people over the years?

Great link, I'll watch the C4 news.

Now here's a really interesting clip I came across on Youtube. It's the original Match Of The Day reporting of the tragedy from later that evening. The truth WAS broadcast 23 years ago.

Match of the Day reported the facts that night. And then SYP and the Sun twisted things in the coming days to try to avoid SYP taking responsibility for their actions.
That footage is heartbreaking but it is also very clear that the fans were helping and trying to save their fellow fans which involved using the advertising hoardings as makeshift stretchers.
The fans were helping each other and doing all they could which is evident in that footage.
Yet a lot of the public were brainwashed in the coming days by a smear campaign in the Sun. The Sun should go the same way as the News of the World did. Out of fucking existence.

The MOTD coverage was really good. Everyone emphasizing that the Liverpool fans were not violent, not doing anything but helping each other. It seems bizarre to me that there was all that footage, including people helping each other to safety, carrying the injured, lifting people out of the crush, and still The Sun and others managed to twist the truth. It was so obviously, when you see the film of it.

I have to admit, it was horrible viewing. The two men hugging and the man taking the hand of the little boy on the pitch. Heart-breaking when you think how different it was for other people that day.

But many people didn't have VCRs in those days, and even if you did: who would want to watch that footage over and over again? So the memory fades.

I read the whole report today, cover to cover .

The C4 clip is brilliant. About time he got a taste of his own medicine. I can't watch the MOTD clip. I remember it happening.

That's true CinnabarRed. We complain about cell phones and social media but the cover up couldn't happen int eh same way nowadays.

I embrace social media. As I said upthread, it makes the world an open place, and that's only a scary place if you have something to hide. Smartphones can get a photo out to the world within a minute. It's not Kelvin Mackensie's Truth anymore - it's ours.

No one's said it yet, so I will. Thanks to Everton last night. What a fitting tribute to the 96 and their brave families. Brothrs, yet rivals - a proper family.

Also a hard week to keep faith in the police, with the Hillsborough Report, and Simon Harwood's dismissal with full pension for gross misconduct over Ian Tomlinson's death.

But we have been reminded today why we need to keep faith in them. Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone seem to have been good coppers. RIP to them, and let's never lose faith in the fact that there are more good coppers than bad ones.

That's true Growlithe. I was reading about one police officer who tried to help the injured at Hillsborough whose statement was reduced from 16 to 6 pages once the amendments were made to remove the truth. He refused to sign it (his signature has been shown to be a forgery) and resigned in disgust. He's spoken out consistently about the cover up but nobody would listen.

I've seen some horrible policing and some great policing. I've worked in homeless hostels a lot and you get to see policing done as vulnerable and marginalized people see it. It's an eye opener. I have also seen how some of the better ones react to the horrible shit they put up with.

I've actually taken some of them aside and told them how well they are doing and how much I appreciate it because I think there is a culture of being a bit of an arse in the Police and they don't get to hear when they do it well.

I don't have a lot of sympathy with the attitude that they are just human and do a difficult job and are therefore allowed to be bad at it. They do have to be seen to be the best of us, if you can't or won't, don't join the Police.

Agree Growlithe. Great post.
Sammy that police officer you talk about must have been so frustrated at not being listened to.

Yes MrsTerrys - They do a difficult job, but they know that when they join. Before I took VR to spend time with the DCs I was a computer analyst programmer. To get that role, I had to undergo a personality test and a situational judgment test, as well as specific job related testing.

What are they looking for on a Police Officer? I would hope the personality test wouldn't surprise us.

Itv have responded to my email saying they have no plans to rebroadcast Hillsborough.

I had that email too

On the subject of social media, I agree that they have made the world a more transparent place, and that can only be a positive.

I do worry, though, that social media contributes towards a tendency towards thinking about important issues on a very superficial level. Too many people don't seem particularly willing to think beyond the immediate sound bite.

the MOTD coverage is difficult to watch but so important. Were Des Lynam and Jimmy Hill called to the inquest/Taylor report? I think not.

I hope that little boy found his dad safe and well.

That original Match of the Day report is so powerful.