Hillsborough: police chief quits

25 Oct 2012, 8:12 am   -   Source: AAP
UK police chief Norman Bettison resigned over his role in the Hillsborough disaster investigation. (AAP)

UK police chief Norman Bettison resigned over his role in the Hillsborough disaster investigation. (AAP)

West Yorkshire police chief Sir Norman Bettison has resigned from the force over his role investigating the Hillsborough disaster.

Under-fire West Yorkshire chief constable Sir Norman Bettison has resigned.

He tendered his resignation ahead of a meeting scheduled to consider his role in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, which he investigated for South Yorkshire Police.

Sir Norman has been under growing pressure since the Hillsborough Independent Panel report was published and he is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

In a statement issued through the West Yorkshire police authority, Sir Norman said he had never blamed the fans for the tragedy.

Sir Norman said: "First, and foremost, the Hillsborough tragedy 23 years ago left 96 families bereaved and countless others injured and affected by it.

"I have always felt the deepest compassion and sympathy for the families, and I recognise their longing to understand exactly what happened on that April afternoon.

"I have never blamed the fans for causing the tragedy."

Sir Norman dismissed reports of a conversation he had in a pub in which he allegedly said he was "concocting" a story for South Yorkshire Police.

He said: "The suggestion that I would say to a passing acquaintance that I was deployed as part of a team tasked to 'concoct a false story of what happened', is both incredible and wrong. That isn't what I was tasked to do, and I did not say that."

Sir Norman said the police authority and some of the candidates in the forthcoming Police and Crime Commission elections made it clear that they wanted him to go.

"I do so, not because of any allegations about the past, but because I share the view that this has become a distraction to policing in West Yorkshire now and in the future."

Margaret Aspinall, chairwoman of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, welcomed the announcement but said Sir Norman's pension should be frozen while the investigation takes place into the police cover-up highlighted by the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

She said: "I'm absolutely delighted he's gone but as far as I am concerned he should have been sacked.

"I would now like to know what payments and pension he's going to get.

"Any financial benefits should be frozen until the outcome of the investigation into the cover-up.

"This is not the end of it, the next thing is to make sure his role is properly investigated."

Mrs Aspinall, who lost her 18-year-old son James in the disaster, said the families had "no vendetta" against the former chief constable.

"He's not the only one who we believe took part in this cover-up. But as a senior officer he should have been honest from the very beginning," she said.

"He allowed the families to suffer for 23-years while knowing the truth all along."

Sir Norman's decision comes two days after Merseyside MP Maria Eagle told the Commons about the claim the chief constable had bragged about "concocting" a story about Hillsborough.

Ms Eagle said there would be "mixed views" among the families about his decision now to resign.

"I have said for many years in Parliament, as long ago as 1998, that he had an involvement in what everybody now realises was a major cover-up," she said.

"Now the IPCC and the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) are investigating following the publication of the independent panel report. I think that is right. We will see what conclusions that they come to.

"I think there will be mixed views amongst those affected by Hillsborough - the families and survivors - because many people wanted him to stay in post so if there were conduct charges, they could be laid. That now can't happen.

"I think it is important for the good of confidence in policing that this matter is swiftly concluded and the investigations come to conclusions and if there are (criminal) charges to be laid, they are laid."

Yesterday Mark Burns-Williamson, who resigned as chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Authority on October 7 to stand in the forthcoming Police and Crime Commissioner elections, increased the pressure by calling for the chief to step down.

Sir Norman was a chief inspector with South Yorkshire Police at the time of the disaster.

He attended the match at Sheffield ground on Wednesday as a spectator but, after the disaster, he was involved in the subsequent force investigation.

The police authority has referred Sir Norman to the IPCC which is investigating his role.

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