The Rt Hon Lord Justice Taylor

“ Mr Duckenfield feared that the crowd might turn hostile or might all attempt to leave together thereby hampering the emergency services if they were given information about what had happened. The result was that apart from those close enough at the west end to see the terrible truth for themselves, the majority of the crowd were left in ignorance. Many, especially Nottingham supporters in the Kop, still thought there had been a pitch invasion or other misbehaviour by Liverpool fans. ”

“ A number of individual officers and fans worked frantically to free those trapped but the gateways were so narrow that only two or three could get at the entwined bodies Willing hands got in one another's way. More officers arrived from the gymnasium and elsewhere in the ground. Many used their own initiative to help those laid out on the pitch, to assist in getting others over the fencing and to comfort the distressed. But some stood in groups near the perimeter fence not knowing what to do. ”

“ The football continued to joyous shouting and singing round the rest of the ground while those crushed and trapped slowly expired.
80. When Mr Greenwood's signals to move back proved fruitless, he tried to radio for the match to be stopped. At first, his message was not received by control, so he signalled with his arms towards the control box. Mr Duckenfield sent Mr Murray down from the box to have the match stopped via the linesman, the agreed emergency drill. Before he could do so, Mr Greenwood ran over the pitch to the referee who stopped the game. ”

“ Experience in recent years has produced a policy of segregation to prevent trouble between supporters of rival teams. The need for this policy to be maintained was endorsed and emphasised by the Popplewell Report following the Bradford City disaster in 1985. Accordingly, before the 1988 semi-final the police decided that sections of the Hillsborough Stadium should be allocated so as to achieve efficient segregation of Liverpool and Nottingham Forest fans. ”

“ The nerve centre for police control is the control room or box situated at the south-west corner of the ground between the south stand and pen 1 of the west terracing. The box is elevated and reached by a number of steps. It has windows commanding views across the pitch and straight along the line of the west perimeter fence. The box is very small and has seats for only three officers. Superintendent Murray was in control of it and was advisor to Mr Duckenfield as he had been to Mr Mole the year before. ”

“ They began to arrive in the Hillsborough area quite early in small numbers. Some brought cans of beer with them and were seen drinking as they walked; others took advantage of the weather and sat about on walls and open spaces. When the public houses opened, many resorted there, drinking inside or spilling out into the sunshine. Leppings Lane and its environs comprise a mixed shopping and residential area. Local residents saw groups of Liverpool supporters keen to find a public house or off-licence. Many were asking for tickets or "spares". ”

“ Liverpool supporters travelling by normal rail service would arrive at Sheffield Midland Station just like their Nottingham counterparts. The police aimed to segregate the rival fans and put them into separate coaches. Liverpool fans could alternatively travel by special train to Wadsley Bridge, a British Rail station catering solely for football supporters and situated to the north of the ground. A police escort was available to conduct them on foot to the Leppings Lane entrance. ”

“ At both the Kop end and the west end access to the pitch is barred by perimeter fencing. The fencing is about eight feet high mounted upon the low wall at the foot of the terracing. At the top of the fencing the wire returns back at a sharp angle for some 15 inches to make it difficult for anyone to climb over towards the pitch. There are gates at intervals along the perimeter fencing to afford access between terrace and pitch. These gates are less than a metre wide and were designed to be opened only from the pitch side for police purposes or in an emergency. ”

“ Towards the end of the morning, fans gathered on and around the bridge near the Leppings Lane entrance. They seemed reluctant to enter the ground early. All turnstiles were open at 12 noon and one or two as early as 11.30 am. Some 53 police had been deployed to operate outside the turnstiles and in the Leppings Lane area. They enquired at random whether fans had tickets. Those who had not were advised to go away; nevertheless, many returned more than once. Those who had tickets were guided in the right direction. The police tried to persuade them to enter the ground early. ”

“ Doctors and nurses had followed the casualties in from the pitch and sought to attend the injured as best they could in the adverse circumstances. Those in most urgent need of hospital treatment were taken to ambulances as they arrived, triage being employed to determine priorities. Doctors were requested by the police to examine each person thought to be deceased to confirm and certify death. ”

“ Alongside the river is a private roadway giving access to the south stand, to the Directors' and players' entrances, and to the administrative block under the stand. The roadway gives both vehicular and pedestrian access between Penistone Road and Leppings Lane, but there are gates which can shut it off at each end. There is some car parking along this roadway principally for Directors, players and employees of the Club. The south stand dates from 1914 and is the oldest at the ground. ”

“ Artificial respiration, mouth to mouth respiration and cardiac massage were applied by the skilled and the unskilled but usually in vain. Those capable of survival mostly came round of their own accord. ”

“ This was to isolate home and away fans on occasions when both might be accommodated on the west terracing in separate pens. Finally there is pen 7 at the north-west corner. Pens 5,6 and 7 each have a perimeter gate. At the back of the pens, under the front of the west stand, there is a gate in each radial fence. When those gates are open, the back row of the terracing is intended to permit access from pen to pen along the whole west side. In practice, when substantial numbers are present, those gateways are not readily visible or accessible. ”

“ Thus, the three blocks of turnstiles encountered by a ticket holder at the Leppings Lane end read from left to right A, C, B. The colour-code for west terrace tickets and the boards beside turnstiles A to G was mauve. To the right of turnstile G is a tubular steel barrier to divide the queue for that turnstile from the roadway to the south stand. ”

“ They noticed fans on the track and went to the Leppings Lane end whilst the game was still in progress. They began to attend to casualties. Meanwhile, at 2.59 pm, there had been a call from Police Constable Waugh at police Headquarters to the Hillsborough police control asking if ambulances were required. This was on the instruction of Chief Inspector Edmundson who had heard over the radio, as had Police Constable Waugh himself, crowd noise and snatches of speech from Hillsborough suggesting distress and possible injuries. ”

“ It was used by a disc jockey, housed under the police control box, to relay music before the match, but it could be overridden by the police. Messages could be relayed through all speakers or if appropriate to one area only. 53. Radio contact at Hillsborough from control to serials operating both inside and outside the ground was UHF on channel 25. There was a WI FU portable base station in the control box and if it failed there was a stand-by station under the operator's bench. Hand sets were issued to all ranks of Sergeant and above. Community Constables on duty would already have their own. ”

“ Sheffield Wednesday's Arrangements
48. The Club provided 376 stewards, gatemen and turnstile operators for duty on 15 April. The stewards were briefed as to their duties on the morning of the match by police Inspectors and were allocated round the ground. They wore yellow tabards. The Club's control room, situated below the south stand, could communicate by VHF radio with the stewards. Closed circuit television was installed by the Club with screens in their control room showing all the turnstiles round the ground. A computerised counting system was incorporated in the turnstiles. ”

“ The cameras have a zoom facility to close in on any point of interest. Specifically, there were good camera views of the west terracing, of the Leppings Lane turnstiles and beyond them of Leppings Lane itself. ”

“ At 3.06 pm Mr Duckenfield, still primarily concerned about public order, caused a message to be sent to Headquarters asking for Operation Support. That was a call for all available additional police resources to come to the ground to strengthen the police presence.
95. Mr Jackson was told by Mr Greenwood that there were casualties and returned immediately to control to make sure emergency services were alerted. Meanwhile, Mr Murray had seen the plight of those behind the fence. He radioed to control that a fleet of ambulances was required. ”