Nineteen ‘decline to cooperate’ in IPCC’s Hillsborough disaster inquiry

Nineteen people have turned down the opportunity to assist with an independent inquiry into West Midlands Police’s (WMP) role in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has contacted 258 officers and staff members who were involved with the force’s investigation into the 1989 tragedy which killed 96 Liverpool fans.

A total of 161 statements have been taken so far but 19 individuals “declined to co-operate” with the IPCC and nine people were unable to assist for health reasons.

The force’s role and those who led its investigation is one of numerous areas the IPCC is looking at in its largest-ever inquiry into alleged criminality and alleged police misconduct.

A WMP team was tasked with investigating South Yorkshire Police (SYP) officers’ conduct for the initial independent inquiry led by Lord Chief Justice Taylor, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the South Yorkshire Coroner.

The IPCC is reviewing and analysing thousands of documents to help establish how that evidence was gathered and then handled, including what was provided to the DPP in 1990.

It said it continues to look at whether there was any influence placed under the then Coroner Dr Stefan Popper by police officers and was trying to identify and trace other Coroner’s officers from the period.

Another ongoing line of inquiry is assessing what was known and understood by WMP in relation to the amended accounts of SYP officers.

In its latest overall monthly update into the inquiry, the IPCC said it also continued to liaise closely with the Crown Prosecution Service about those individuals it considered to be suspects and had submitted “substantial evidence-based files”.

The IPCC is aiming to submit all evidence files to the CPS team by the end of the year.

It revealed that WMP had taken more than 5,000 statements during its course of investigation. It had raised over 8,000 actions that involved individual tasks handed out to its officers and had gathered more than 9,000 completed witness questionnaires.

The force had also collected “a large quantity of additional documents”.

The IPCC added: “Our intention remains to submit full files of evidence to the CPS by the turn of the year to enable decisions to be made on whether any individuals should be charged.”

Operation Resolve, the criminal investigation into the planning for the FA Cup semi-final and the day of the disaster, also aims to submit all its files to the CPS by the year end.

It had previously revealed that 64 people had refused to speak to its investigators.

In April, an inquests jury concluded the 96 victims were unlawfully killed and that failures by South Yorkshire Police “caused or contributed to” the disaster at Sheffield Wednesday FC’s stadium.

In private meetings with Theresa May, the families complained about the conduct of South Yorkshire Police during the fresh inquests in Warrington.