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| South Yorkshire police chief suspended over Hillsborough verdict | South Yorkshire police chief suspended over Hillsborough verdict |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| David Crompton has been suspended as chief constable of South Yorkshire police after the Hillsborough inquest findings. | |
| Crompton’s force had been criticised for its conduct during the inquest, which found that 96 Liverpool fans had been unlawfully killed. | Crompton’s force had been criticised for its conduct during the inquest, which found that 96 Liverpool fans had been unlawfully killed. |
| Following the verdicts on Tuesday, Crompton admitted the force got the policing of the match “catastrophically wrong” and “unequivocally” accepted the inquest jury’s conclusions. | Following the verdicts on Tuesday, Crompton admitted the force got the policing of the match “catastrophically wrong” and “unequivocally” accepted the inquest jury’s conclusions. |
| The news came hours after Andy Burnham, the shadow home secretary, had described Crompton’s position as untenable. Burnham was speaking in the House of Commons as MPs discussed the fallout from the inquest verdicts about the 1989 disaster. | |
| South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner, Alan Billings, said he had been left with no choice other than to suspend Crompton with immediate effect. | |
| Billings said: “I have reached this decision with a heavy heart following discussions with David both in the run-up to and following the delivery of the Hillsborough verdicts. | |
| “My decision is based on the erosion of public trust and confidence referenced in statements and comments in the House of Commons this lunchtime, along with public calls for the chief constable’s resignation from a number of quarters.” | “My decision is based on the erosion of public trust and confidence referenced in statements and comments in the House of Commons this lunchtime, along with public calls for the chief constable’s resignation from a number of quarters.” |
| Related: Hillsborough verdict: victims' families' 27-year struggle for truth vindicated | Related: Hillsborough verdict: victims' families' 27-year struggle for truth vindicated |
| He said he had acted because of the “difference of perception” between the chief constable and Hillsborough families about questions the force’s lawyers had raised about the conduct of fans on the day of the tragedy in 1989. | |
| Billings said the row was “proving an obstacle to our going forward” and came despite Crompton being due to retire in November. | Billings said the row was “proving an obstacle to our going forward” and came despite Crompton being due to retire in November. |
| The suspension was announced barely four hours after concerns were raised in the Commons about the force’s conduct at the inquest. | |
| Burnham launched a blistering attack on the force’s leadership and conduct at the inquest. His speech was greeted with applause by the Labour benches, and seemed to catch the national mood in the wake of the verdicts. | |
| He and the families were angered by the police lawyers at the inquest, acting on instruction from the force. Burnham said: “The much bigger question for the South Yorkshire police to answer today is this: why, at this inquest, did they go back on their 2012 public apology?” | He and the families were angered by the police lawyers at the inquest, acting on instruction from the force. Burnham said: “The much bigger question for the South Yorkshire police to answer today is this: why, at this inquest, did they go back on their 2012 public apology?” |
| Burnham added: “Shamefully, the cover-up continued in this Warrington court room. Millions of pounds of public money were spent retelling discredited lies.” | |
| By doing so, the Commons heard, even more agony was piled on the families’ suffering of almost three decades. | By doing so, the Commons heard, even more agony was piled on the families’ suffering of almost three decades. |
| Burnham told MPs: “If the police had chosen to maintain its apology, this inquest would have been much shorter. But they didn’t and they put the families through hell once again.” | Burnham told MPs: “If the police had chosen to maintain its apology, this inquest would have been much shorter. But they didn’t and they put the families through hell once again.” |
| “This force hasn’t learned and hasn’t changed. But I do blame their leadership and culture, which seems rotten to the core. So will the home secretary now order the fundamental reform of this force and consider all potential options?” | |
| Just after midday on Wednesday South Yorkshire police issued a fresh statement to try to head off already fierce criticism of the force’s conduct at the inquest. | |
| The force said sorry for “perceived” differences between an apology it had issued in 2012 and its conduct at the inquest. “We have never sought, at any stage, to defend the failures of SYP or its officers. Nevertheless, these failures had to be put into the context of other contributory factors. In other words, where do the failings of SYP stand in the overall picture? | |
| “We are sorry if our approach has been perceived as at odds with our earlier apology, this was certainly not our intention.” | “We are sorry if our approach has been perceived as at odds with our earlier apology, this was certainly not our intention.” |