Just more than 27 years ago, 96 Liverpool fans travelled to Hillsborough stadium for an FA Cup semi-final match against Nottingham Forest and didn't come back. Tuesday, a jury finally ruled that those 96 people died because of negligence and incompetence from the police and ambulance services.
This ruling ends years of denial from various agencies, including the South Yorkshire police force and The Sun newspaper, who maintained the tragedy was caused by supporters who were drunk and disorderly, rather than a failure to police a vulnerable part of the stadium and the allowance of too many people into certain sections of the stands.
The disaster at its core happened because the normal commander in charge of matches at Hillsborough had been moved to a different job, and a new commander, unfamiliar with the job at hand, was installed. Naturally, he bungled it and 96 people died.
That it has taken this long for the truth to come out is a miscarriage of justice at best and we can only hope those affected by the tragedy can gain some small comfort from the ruling.
Anyone who wants to know more about the inquest and the disaster should read this terrific story from The Guardian.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
