David Duckenfield

I could hazard a guess at the first three words!

I don't understand it either, GrannyTwice. Hands up everyone who does!

Sorry. I no longer do Mumsnet. You will have to interpret.

And I will reply with a good old "fuck off".

Jingle - in that well known MN phrase jfottfsofanfosm

The Liverpool fans were good, well behaved, sober citizens. David Cameron said so.

Careful Lilygran. Don't forget political correctness. Once the masses have decided, God help anyone with opinions of their own.

Duckenfield has admitted that it was his action in opening the gate that precipitated the dreadful deaths at Hillsborough and S Yorks Police have admitted a cover-up. Now someone has admitted responsibility for those deaths, the questions I ask myself are, Why did he feel it necessary to open the gate? And who was responsible for the fans pushing the black man off the train? Or the racist abuse shouted at many football matches? Or the fighting that caused English fans to be banned from some countries? Or the events at Heysel stadium?

There can sometimes be a high price to pay, if someone is a coward or a liar.

In this sort of circumstance your life is ruined, either way.

I agree with what you say jings.

I think those further up the chain of command must bear some of the responsibilty and I have wondered if he was under orders to keep his mouth zipped? I get the feeling that the powers that be want to draw a line under this awful and distressing incident now and it does feel a bit like he has been hung out to dry.

He fell down on his job, that much is true. The lying might well have had some psychological basis. Who would be willing, even able, to face up to truths where actions have had such devastating results?

Seems hard to blame just one man.

I felt some sympathy with the man jingle.

Grannytwice I am thankful I have never wished anybody would rot in hell!

The questioning was tough but he has had many years to face and tell the truth. I hope he is not left to carry the can on his own though because there are many others who have some responsibility such as the senior police officers that seem to have colluded over a cover up and attempts to shift the blame to the supporters, the ground licensing authorities who failed to see that the ground was safe even by the lesser standards of the time and the FA who agreed to hold a semi final at a ground where there had been crowd safety issues before

Some of it is easy with hind sight and the whole issue of crowd safety and management taken much more seriously now but even given what was understood at the time Hilsborough should never have happened

I agree with Eloethan. Despicable that he didn't own up but a heavy burden to bear! My heart goes out to the families.

My DH & DS2 were there. DS was 15 and says that he still has awful memories of seeing bodies being carried onto the pitch and I can remember the endless wait, having seen the tv footage, until I heard from DH to say they were ok! No mobile phones back then so they had to find a public phone box!

If he'd told the truth first time round so many people would have been saved from nearly 30 years of hell.
He consistently lied and now he's been found out. Little consolation for so many.

jingle 96 people died and over 700 were injured and traumatised. The circumstances of their deaths were covered up and their memories besmirched.

It is no doubt a heavy burden for David Duckenfield to bear but I feel a lot more sorry for the families whose grief and anger remained raw and unresolved for many years as a result of the lies he and others told after the tragedy.

It isn't just that it took him so long to admit it - it's that he saw their suffering, their fight for justice, their maligning and he said nothing nothing nothing. He saw parents die before they attained justice - what a truly evil man. How did / does he live with himself?

He made mistakes nearly 30 years ago - I'm sure he'd do things differently if he could turn the clocks back. What is unforgiveable is that it's taken that long for him to admit his mistakes.

And what's cruel about finally extracting the truth?

The Hillsborough victims and their families have been much-maligned over the years.

And actually I think your comparison is pretty insulting to the memory of Davud Kelly

No Jingle not at all - what he and be rest of them put those poor families through - if I believed in hell , I'd hope he would rot there. He lied, lied and lied again over the years whilst they fought for justice and he watched them suffer, be maligned and bad mouthed - the Hillsborough families represent all that is good in our society and he is a symbol of all that is evil and corrupt.