12/10/2012

DPP To Launch 'Major And Wide-Ranging' Hillsborough Investigation

Following the publication of the Hillsborough independent panel report published last month, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has announced that it will launch a major and wide-ranging investigation into allegations of misconduct by South Yorkshire police, West Midlands police and others.

It will also immediately review all of the evidence in the 395-page report to decide whether new charges of manslaughter can be brought against corporate bodies or individuals in light of the new evidence.

"I have now concluded that the Crown Prosecution Service should consider all the material now available in relation to the tragic events of 15 April 1989, including material made available by the independent panel," said the DPP, Keir Starmer.

"The purpose of this investigation is to identify what the focus of any further criminal investigation should be in order for the CPS to determine whether this is now sufficient evidence to charge any individual or corporate body with any criminal offence."

Deputy chair of the IPCC, Deborah Glass, also said: "We are going to be launching an independent investigation into those new matters. We've carried out a review of the report and begun looking at the 450,000 pages of underlying evidence. We have identified a large number of potential criminal and misconduct offences."

Adding: "The potential criminal misconduct offences fall into two broad categories. There are allegations that go to the heart of what happened at Hillsborough and allegations about what happened afterwards."

(H)


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