Former chief constable would have gross misconduct case to answer over Hillsborough if he were serving today, new report finds
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IOPC boss asked about calls for Norman Bettison to be stripped of his knighthood
There are calls today for former Merseyside Police chief constable Norman Bettison to be stripped of his knighthood and his Queen's Policing medal after a major new investigation found he would have a gross misconduct case to answer were he still a serving police officer today.
A huge new report, released today, brings together the findings from years of investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and Operation Resolve - the criminal investigation into the disaster at Hillsborough Stadium on April 15 1989 which led to the unlawful deaths of 97 Liverpool fans.
The report has concluded South Yorkshire Police fundamentally failed in its planning for the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest - and in how it dealt with traumatised supporters and families who were desperately searching for their loved ones before officers attempted to deflect blame for the disaster onto Reds supporters.
The report states a number of high ranking officers - including former SYP chief constable Peter Wright, match commander on the day David Duckenfield and former Merseyside Police chief constable Norman Bettison - would have faced gross misconduct cases if they were still serving officers today.
Bettison, a former chief constable of both Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police was a chief inspector in SYP at the time of the disaster.
In 1998, he left West Yorkshire Police to become the chief constable of the Merseyside force in a move that was passionately opposed by a number of families of those who died at Hillsborough.
The IOPC report said if he remained a serving officer today, he would have faced a gross misconduct case.
The report said the case would have centred on allegations he was deliberately dishonest about his involvement in the disaster during his application for and appointment to the top police role with Merseyside Police in 1998.
He was also accused of providing misleading and inaccurate press statements, "minimising his role to one on the periphery" to post-disaster investigations carried out by SYP - including during his time as chief constable of both Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police. Criminal charges against Bettison over his role in the aftermath of the disaster were dropped in 2018.
Responding to the report today, Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne, a survivor of the disaster, called for the former police chief's honours to be removed.
Bettison was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for distinguished service in the Millennium Honours List and received a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to policing in 2006. He retired in 2013.
In a letter to cabinet office minister Nick Thomas Symonds, Mr Byrne wrote: "I urge you in the strongest possible terms to make considered representation to the Prime Minister that he immediately recommends to the Sovereign that Norman Bettison's Knighthood be forfeited, for the reason he is unworthy to retain it and in order to preserve the integrity of the honours system.
"I also want to express, again in the strongest possible terms, the importance of this action to Hillsborough families and survivors - given that this is now the only remaining meaningful sanctions Norman Bettison can face."
Mr Byrne has also laid down an Early Day Motion in Parliament, urging the Prime Minister to recommend to the King that Bettison's knighhood is removed.