Call for Hillsborough chief inspector to lose knighthood

Hillsborough families are calling for the former chief constable of Merseyside Police Sir Norman Bettison to be stripped of his knighthood, following a damning report into policing at the 1989 stadium disaster.

The report, released on Tuesday by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), found 12 retired police officers - including Sir Norman- would have faced gross misconduct proceedings under today's laws over the crush.

MP for Liverpool West Derby and Hillsborough survivor Ian Byrne said removal of the honour is "the only remaining sanction left for families and survivors to pursue."

The BBC contacted the Forfeiture Committee, which considers cases where a holder of a British honour should potentially have their award removed, and it declined to comment.

The long-awaited report found there were "fundamental failures" and "concerted efforts" to blame fans following the incident.

It concluded Sir Norman would have faced two gross misconduct allegations of dishonesty - over his role in the disaster while applying for the chief constable job at Merseyside Police in 1998, and allegations of providing misleading press statements.

However, the law at the time means no officers will face disciplinary proceedings because they had all retired before the IOPC's investigations began in 2012.

The BBC contacted Sir Norman in relation to the publication of the IOPC report, but he declined to comment.

Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside in 2018, he said in the 10 years between the disaster and his application to become Merseyside chief constable "nobody had ever questioned" what he had done "let alone criticised it".

He said at the time: "Of course, people say now, Hillsborough should have been uppermost in your mind in applying to Merseyside.

"And perhaps, perhaps, I didn't read the Merseyside temperature as well as I should have done, but there was nothing in my mind that connected a task that I'd done 10 years ago with an application for a job a decade later."

He said it was "a myth" that the police authority were kept in a the dark about his Hillsborough connections.

"In actual fact, there was a report that went to the shortlisting committee and the final appointments committee that highlighted the fact that I'd been involved in some post-disaster investigation work and I was appointed nevertheless," he added.

Sir Norman was a chief inspector at South Yorkshire Police at the time of the disaster, and went on to become chief constable at West Yorkshire Police.

He was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for distinguished service in the Millennium Honours List and received a knighthood for services to policing in 2006.

Sir Norman, 69, retired in 2013.

Mr Byrne said he has written to cabinet office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds asking for his knighthood to be forfeited, "for the reason he is unworthy to retain it and in order to preserve the integrity of the honours system."

He said: "That man resigned when he knew the IOPC were coming for him, so he left with a full pension and didn't face any sort of justice.

"I think the very least the government, the state and the establishment can do is strip that man of his title.

"To my knowledge they can strip him of the knighthood, and seeing as it was given for police services it should be looked at."

Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside earlier, the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram said there need to be consequences for what happened.

Jenni Hicks, whose two daughters were among 97 football fans who died as a result of the crush at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium on 15 April, has backed the campaign.

"He's totally right, he should be stripped of it," she said.

"To be given a knighthood is an honour from your country.

"It's an honourable thing, and for me personally he's a dishonourable person," she told BBC Breakfast.

"They were allowed to retire on the grounds of ill health with full pensions and in some cases, with golden handshakes.

"Youngish guys in their 40s and 50s were allowed to retire so that they didn't have to face the consequences of their actions."

The Public Office (Accountability) Bill, which is commonly referred to as the Hillsborough Law, is currently progressing through Parliament.

It will force public bodies to co-operate with investigations into major disasters or potentially face criminal sanctions, as well as provide legal funding to those affected by state-related disasters.

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