Former police commander David Duckenfield has said that he has only now admitted that he failed in his job surrounding the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 because he saw “the writing on the wall” during inquests into the tragic disaster, report The Guardian.
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Duckenfield was the chief superintendent in charge of policing the ’89 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Sheffield, where 96 Liverpool supporters died due to crushes in an overpopulated area of the stadium.
Last week, Duckenfield told the inquests that he had been “in denial”, but that he was pushed to tell the truth when the Hillsborough independent panel report was published in September 2012.
Pete Weatherby QC, who is representing 22 families who lost family members in the pens of Hillsborough’s Leppings Lane, put it to Duckenfield that he had lied when he previously said that he could not improve on the evidence he had given originally.
Duckenfield responded by saying: “Since 5 March last year I have had to focus very clearly on the events of the day.
“All I will say to you is I am now in a position to put my case forward honestly and openly and as time has gone by, my views have changed but not with any dishonesty at all.”
He added: “I have said I was in denial.”