Sir Norman Bettison announces retirement

The West Yorkshire Police chief constable, whose role in Hillsborough was criticised in a recent government report, will retire from his post in March.

Last month Sir Norman Bettison was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) following public complaints over his involvement in the cover-up over the disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans in 1989.

Sir Norman had attended the match as an off-duty inspector with South Yorkshire Police, and later assisted the internal inquiry. Unnamed senior officers were found by the report to have doctored 164 witness statements placing blame onto innocent Liverpool fans.

In a statement Sir Norman said his retirement would allow the IPCC to fully focus on the investigation and the incoming police and crime commissioner (PCC) to find a successor more quickly.

“Recent weeks have caused me to reflect on what is best for the future of policing in West Yorkshire and I have now decided to set a firm date for my retirement,” he said.

West Yorkshire Police Authority (WYPA) supported his decision, saying it was “right to retire”. WYPA chairman Mark Burns-Williamson admitted there were “varying views” on the matter and the scale of the Hillsborough report’s findings intensified the situation.

“It’s no secret we’ve been in discussions regarding the situation but what the March date does is give us stability in the short-term in what is going to be a transitional period and allows time to get the process in place to appoint a new chief constable,” he said.

The IPCC is also investigating his statement after the release of the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report that finally exonerated the fans, where Sir Norman claimed fans’ behaviour made the police’s job “harder than it needed to be.” He later apologised.

Having risen through the ranks at South Yorkshire, Sir Norman has been one of the most high-profile policemen of the last 20 years, including a spell as chief constable of Merseyside Police, an appointment that angered many families of Hillsborough victims.

He left Merseyside to become chief executive of national police training at Centrex before becoming chief constable at West Yorkshire in 2007.

He was hotly tipped to succeed Sir Ian Blair as Metropolitan Police Commissioner in 2008, but opted out of the process due to the perceived politicisation of the post.

Tributes were posted on the West Yorkshire Police website, while Sir Hugh Orde, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), also acknowledged Sir Norman’s long career at the top of policing.

“At the national level he has made an outstanding contribution to the work of the police service as a whole in cutting crime and keeping the public safe,” he said. “His depth of knowledge and experience is highly regarded within the service.”

However, members of the Hillsborough Families Support Group (HFSG) have criticised Sir Norman’s role in the disaster, accusing him of aiding the cover-up and saying he should have been sacked.

HFSG president Trevor Hicks said it would be a “travesty” if Sir Norman was allowed to retire like other officers implicated in the disaster.

“This is typical of senior officers avoiding responsibility, dipping out of disciplinaries, and leaving with a big fat pension, a knighthood, and an honorary fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University,” he said.

“Over the next six months we will be undertaking every endeavour to press for Bettison to be sacked.”

As well as calling on the IPCC to conclude their investigation before March, HFSG members have appealed for Sir Norman to return his £88,000 annual pension from Merseyside Police.

Margaret Aspinall, chairman of HFSG, said: “This is a disgrace, the more and more I hear, the more I am shocked.”

Merseyside Police Authority chairman Councillor Bill Weightman said the force had no option regarding payment of the pension, though they could appeal to the Home Office should Sir Norman be c