Police told PM ‘drunken Liverpool fans’ caused Hillsborough disaster

FORMER Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was told that a senior Merseyside Police officer blamed “drunken Liverpool fans” for the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster, according to leaked government papers.

The documents show that four days after the tragedy, a member of Mrs Thatcher’s No 10 policy unit met senior Merseyside officers who told her large numbers of Liverpool fans turning up without tickets had been a “key factor” in what happened.

Ninety-six fans died following a crush on the overcrowded terraces at the stadium in Sheffield where Liverpool were due to play an FA Cup semi-final match in April 1989.

There was deep anger in the city after South Yorkshire Police, who were responsible for policing the game, blamed Liverpool fans who turned up drunk, late, and without tickets, for what happened.

However the papers suggest that view was shared by their colleagues on Merseyside itself.

They include a note addressed to Mrs Thatcher dated 20 April 1989 headed “Merseyside Police views on Hillsborough” and marked “Confidential”.

It contains an account of what was said to be a long-planned meeting between the No 10 adviser and the then Merseyside chief constable Sir Kenneth Oxford and other senior officers from the force.

According to the note, Sir Kenneth said: “A key factor in causing the disaster was the fact that large numbers of Liverpool fans had turned up without tickets.

“This was getting lost sight of in attempts to blame the police, the football authorities, etc.”

Sir Kenneth, who died in 1998, was also said to have expressed concern at the way Liverpool’s ground at Anfield had been turned into a “shrine” by grieving fans. “He deplored the press’s morbid concentration on pictures of bodies. He was also uneasy about the way in which Anfield was being turned into a shrine,” the note said.

The note is initialled “MT”, suggesting it was read by Mrs Thatcher, and the phrase “drunken Liverpool fans” is one of a number of passages underlined by hand.

The Hillsborough Independent Panel, set up in 2009, is currently reviewing all the official papers relating to the disaster with a view to their eventual release later this year.

Families of the victims reacted angrily to the views expressed by Sir Kenneth and his colleagues about the Liverpool fans.

Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son, James, died in the tragedy and who now chairs the Hillsborough Families Support Group, branded the comments a “disgrace”.

“They watched videos of what happened that day and they (have seen) survivors running along with bodies and maybe people who may be still alive on hoardings. They were the heroes that day,” she told The World at One.

Sheila Coleman of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign said she was disgusted but not surprised at the views expressed by the police.

“Those of us who were around Liverpool in the 1980s are well aware of Ken Oxford’s racist and bigoted views. Presumably he recruited senior officers with a similar mindset,” she said.