The match commander of the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough at which 96 people were killed was “assessed as being competent” when promoted to the position by South Yorkshire police and “expected to deal with everything from day one”, his manslaughter trial has been told.
The decision by the chief constable, Peter Wright, to appoint David Duckenfield as chief superintendent of the division that included Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough ground 19 days before the semi-final was not questioned by any senior officer, the court heard.
In a statement read to the jury at Preston crown court, Stuart Anderson, then assistant chief constable with responsibility for human resources, said Duckenfield was an “ideal candidate” to to replace the experienced former football match commander, Ch Supt Brian Mole.
Duckenfield had recently completed an intermediate command course and was considered capable of reaching ACPO level, Anderson said.
Senior officers were “well aware” the semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, with 54,000 people attending was imminent, Anderson said, and they believed adequate plans and a competent team of officers were in place.
The expectation on Duckenfield to deal with everything from the first day was prevailing police culture of the time, Anderson said, and Duckenfield was assessed as competent “for all facets of the role”.
Douglas Hopkins, a Metropolitan police match commander at Arsenal’s Highbury ground in the late 1980s, giving evidence as an expert for the prosecution, said Duckenfield had “a very fine CV” after a varied 29-year career in the force.
He had policed at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane for one season as an inspector in the mid-70s, and as a chief inspector at Hillsborough from 1979-80, which included the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Arsenal.
As a superintendent, deputy commander of the force’s biggest division, West Bar, between 1985 and 1989, Duckenfield’s experience included football matches at Bramall Lane, a Bruce Springsteen concert and a Billy Graham rally.
He was also responsible for “a difficult police area”, and public order policing of crowds, including city centre political marches. Hopkins said public order policing required decision making which could be more challenging than football matches.
“Public order can cover a multitude of things and you have to think a lot more on your feet for it,” Hopkins said.
He told the court that he “wouldn’t have any hesitation” in having considered Duckenfield suitable to be match commander for Sheffield Wednesday league matches.
“My big concern at the time was: did he have a safe enough pair of hands to command a semi-final, all-ticket match as his first match?” Hopkins said. “Everyone knows my views - I felt it should have been Mr Mole [commanding the match] with [Duckenfield] shadowing.”
Duckenfield is charged with gross negligence manslaughter in relation to 95 of the people who died at the semi final following a lethal crush which developed in the central “pens” three and four of the Leppings Lane terrace.
No charge could be brought relating to the 96th victim, Tony Bland, who died in 1993 after life support was lawfully withdrawn. According to the law in 1989, no charge relating to a death could be brought if the person died more than a year after the acts alleged to have caused it.
The court was told Duckenfield declined to answer questions when interviewed under caution in June 2017 by officers from the police investigation into the disaster, Operation Resolve. Instead he had prepared a statement, which was read to the court. In it, he referred to having already answered extensive questions at the 2014-16 and 1990-91 inquests, and at the 1989 public inquiry by Lord Justice Taylor.
Duckenfield said in the statement that he was not guilty of a criminal offence, which would be for a jury to decide, adding, “I tried to do my professional best.”
Graham Mackrell, 69, the former Sheffield Wednesday secretary and safety officer at the time of the disaster, is charged with breaches of safety legislation, including a failure to have drawn up contingency plans to cope with “unusually large numbers of spectators arriving at the ground”, and where available entrances were insufficient to prevent “unduly large crowds from gathering outside”.
Questioned by Mackrell’s barrister, Jason Beer QC, Hopkins said although contingency plans were advised in the Home Office’s green guide to safety, Arsenal did not have one.
“We didn’t have written contingency plans,” Hopkins said. “In my experience, most match commanders had ‘what if?’ in their heads.”
The prosecution closed its case on Wednesday. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial continues.
