A book by the former chief constable of Merseyside police will not have a “significant adverse” impact on the criminal investigation into the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, the police watchdog has said.
Sir Norman Bettison’s account of his experience of the 1989 football stadium disaster and its aftermath was published on Thursday. He has been criticised by the families of the 96 victims for releasing the book before possible criminal proceedings have been concluded.
In April, a jury in the new inquests into the tragedy concluded that the victims of the stadium crush were unlawfully killed due to the gross negligence of the South Yorkshire police officer in command, Ch Supt David Duckenfield.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission subsequently said it intended to send files to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider possible charges against the police, including perverting the course of justice, at the end of this year.
The IPCC said on Friday that Bettison’s book was unlikely to prejudice the investigation.
A spokeswoman said: “We have read and assessed the book. We do not think it has a significant adverse impact on the ongoing criminal investigation and we would need to be able to demonstrate this in order to bring any legal action to prevent publication.”
In the book, Hillsborough Untold, Bettison acknowledges he is a suspect in the criminal investigation. Bettison, who was a chief inspector in South Yorkshire police at the time of the disaster, writes that the book could be the only way that his account of the Hillsborough aftermath will ever be heard by the CPS and the public.
The book’s publisher, Biteback, has said the book “seeks respectfully to explain why [Bettison] feels he has been unfairly scapegoated”. It has said any proceeds from sales will go to charity.
In response to Bettison’s suggestion that the IPCC investigation had not been open-minded, the spokeswoman told the Liverpool Echo: “The IPCC carries out its work thoroughly, efficiently, and independently.
“The Hillsborough investigation is the biggest criminal investigation into alleged police wrongdoing undertaken in this country. We remain on track to deliver full evidence files to the Crown Prosecution Service at the turn of the year, to enable decisions on criminal charges to be made.”
