Over 600 people are set to receive compensation from the South Yorkshire police force following the agreement of a settlement over a deceitful police campaign seeking to blame the Hillsborough disaster on the victims.
The families of the 96 victims will receive financial compensation for any psychiatric trauma resulting from the campaign in question.
This comes after a judge recently cleared two former police officers and an ex-solicitor of perverting the course of justice in altering police accounts after the event.
“Through this civil claim for misfeasance in a public office, 601 victims sought justice and accountability for the deliberate, orchestrated and thoroughly dishonest police cover-up that suppressed the truth about the responsibility of the police, and blamed the football supporters for the horrific events that unfolded at the Hillsborough Stadium on 15 April 1989,” lawyers acting on behalf of those affected were quoted as saying by the Guardian.
“Ninety-six Liverpool supporters were unlawfully killed as a result of the police failings that day, and countless others suffered physical and psychological harm.
“The distress and heartache caused by the loss of life, and the injuries caused to those who survived, were made significantly worse by the lies told and the cover-up that followed.
“As a result of the cover-up, that was maintained for nearly 30 years, the victims, both the bereaved and the survivors, and their families and loved ones, suffered additional psychiatric injury.
“No amount of money can compensate them for the ordeal they have suffered, but this settlement acknowledges both the cover-up and its impact upon each of the victims.”
The financial recompense is welcomed but it will no doubt offer little peace of mind for those still yet to find legal justice for the unlawful killing of the 96.
Given that a cover-up on some level has been acknowledged, it may provide hope to those still coping with the effects of the disaster of such justice being attained.
For now, at the very least, the pain and suffering of the affected families and individuals have been addressed.