Two police officers and a solicitor changed their statements about the Hillsborough disaster to ‘minimise the blame’ on South Yorkshire Police, a court heard today.
Retired chief superintendent Donald Denton, 83, retired detective chief inspector Alan Foster, 74, and former lawyer Peter Metcalf, 71, deny perverting the course of justice in the wake of the 1989 tragedy in which 96 Liverpool fans died.
They appeared at the Nightingale court at the Lowry Theatre in Salford today for the opening of their trial.
Sarah Whitehouse QC, prosecuting, told the court: ‘The allegation is that these three tried to minimise the blame that might be heaped upon the South Yorkshire Police at the many different forms of inquiry that followed that dreadful day.
‘They did this by altering accounts given by police officers who were present on the day.
‘They knew that those accounts were inevitably going to end up being sent to a number of inquiries that would follow the disaster.’
Retired chief superintendent Donald Denton, 83, (left) and retired detective chief inspector Alan Foster, 74, (right) arrive at the Lowry theatre today
Former lawyer Peter Metcalf, 71, outside the Lowry Theatre in Salford today for the opening of their trial
The court heard that Metcalf, the force’s solicitor, advised on what tweaks should be made – and that Denton and Foster followed his advice and changed the accounts.
Around a dozen people, including loved ones of the deceased, watched proceedings by video link from St George’s Hall in Liverpool.
Jurors were told to ‘forget everything’ they had heard before about the harrowing episode and focus only on the evidence heard at the trial.
Ms Whitehouse told the court: ‘This is important: the name of Hillsborough is known throughout the land as the scene of a terrible disaster.
‘The name has also, however, become connected in the minds of many, mainly through media coverage, as linked with a cover-up and attempts to hide the real facts.
‘You should forget everything that you may have heard and concentrate only on the evidence that you hear in this court.
‘By the end of this trial, you 12 will be the only people in the country who have heard all the evidence about this aspect of the Hillsborough disaster.’
The West Terrace of Hillsborough staium at 2.54pm on April 15, 1989, the day of the disaster
Mounted police officers and Liverpool FC supporters at the Leppings Lane entrance to Hillsborough stadium on April 15, 1989
Ms Whitehouse said Metcalf was a partner with solicitors’ firm Hammond Suddards, who were asked to act for Municipal Mutual Insurance, the insurers of the South Yorkshire Police, after the disaster.
He was also instructed to act for the police at an inquiry chaired by Lord Justice Taylor to look at safety at sports events following the tragedy and in any civil litigation.
West Midlands Police took charge of investigations after the disaster and asked for written accounts made by officers who were present on the day to be handed over to them, Ms Whitehouse said.
Before the accounts were handed over, Metcalf reviewed them, suggested alterations and his instructions were carried out by Foster and Denton, the court heard.
Ms Whitehouse said: ‘A number of accounts were altered by them, or at their direction. The effect of the alterations was to mask the failings on the part of South Yorkshire Police in their planning and execution of the policing of the football match.’
Denton, of Bents Drive, Sheffield, Foster, of Rossett Avenue, Harrogate, and Metcalf, of Cragg Drive, Ilkley, each deny two counts of doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice.
Ninety-six Liverpool fans were crushed to death in pens at the Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough Stadium at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.
The trial, which is expected to last up to 16 weeks, continues.