Hillsborough files: Police who broke the law should be prosecuted, says Home Secretary

Published on 17/09/2012 16:06

POLICE officers who broke the law after the Hillsborough disaster should be prosecuted if there is enough evidence, the Home Secretary said today.

• Home Secretary calls for ‘resource’ and ‘co-operation’ to investigate

• Remarks made in letter to Home Affairs Select Committee

Theresa May said anyone who had committed a crime should be pursued.

She said she was still digesting the “deeply shocking and disturbing report”, issued last week.

But she is “absolutely clear” that those who broke the law should be prosecuted.

Home Office officials have been told to ensure the “necessary resource, support, advice and co-operation” are in place “to facilitate any and all investigations into individual and systemic issues”, Mrs May said.

Mrs May said: “We are still digesting what is a comprehensive report into a complicated series of issues, as well as the various ways in which the report needs to be acted upon in order to move from truth to justice.

“That being said, I am absolutely clear that those who have broken the law should be pursued and, if the evidence is sufficient, prosecuted.

“Investigating individual criminality where there is new evidence or new allegations that have not previously been investigated, whether on the part of serving or retired police officers, is the remit of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)”.

The Home Secretary made her comments in a letter to Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee.