youngmafbog - //Just what was Duckenfield supposed to do? Let them mash themselves at the turnstile?
Yes, he was very wrong to lie, but that is no reason to place all the blame on him. By doing so it is obvious why he felt the need to lie in the first place - The scouse lynch mob. //
I have got 20/20 hindsight, the same as everyone on here, and everyone involved. No-one including Mr Duckenfield could have possibly predicted what would happen on that dreadful day. He made his decisions based on what he thought was solve a situation that was evolving second by second in front of him.
The issue here is not blame - that is difficult to apportion in terms of the events, it is about responsibility.
The responsibility for what happened lies with Mr Duckenfield because he was in charge pf policing.
I can entirely sympathise with him for getting it wrong,, and he must live with that.
But lying for all this time was a simple act of cowardice and immorality - to say nothing of involving his subordinates in his scheme.
If you want to be a senior police office with the salary and status and perks, and take the plaudits when things go right, then be willing to step up and admit your errors, and take the conseqences whatever they may be.
I don't think Mr Duckenfield should be castigated for honest mistakes made in a pressurised situation.
I do think he should be prosecuted for perjury, involving junior officers, and then staying silent for twenty-five years - twenty five years!!!
That is not an instant, but tragically wrong decision, it is deliberate avoidance of consequences and it is the action of a moral coward.