Hillsborough

[Vermilion]

Really!!!?

David Conn @david_conn 42m42 minutes ago

Hillsborough Inquests: Duckenfield: I did not make my admissions for 26 years also because I did not trust the press not to misrepresent me.

[BigChief]

Me, me, me. You can see there's not an ounce of regret or thought for anyone else.

[ntto]

I've been following it online but a lot of people are saying they cant comment and fans shouldn't comment because they are being watched

does anybody know what is meant by this?

[dom9]

Possibility of influencing the jury I suspect.

[Lecter]

Mixed feelings about it. He's admitted everything only once the weight of public demand had him cornered. Never said a ****ing word for all these years so his apology is difficult to accept. **** him.

He didnt admit it or apologise because he'd have been right in the **** if he had, firstly for the legal process that might have had him banged up and secondly because the pressure from the rest of the police force

He hasnt subsequently admitted it / apologised because he was pensioned off with ill health and didnt want anything to remotely jeopardise that

Absolute ****ing scum the lot of them, how they could live with themselves for this long is beyond belief

[G]

I've been following it online but a lot of people are saying they cant comment and fans shouldn't comment because they are being watched

does anybody know what is meant by this?

He's a bellend but this explains it.

Tony Evans @TonyEvansTimes
OK. Let's approach Hillsborough Inquest comment from another angle. Imagine, just imagine, there are criminal proceedings down the line 1/2

Tony Evans @TonyEvansTimes 10m10 minutes ago
And the defence team come up with a huge dossier of social media comment so large it suggests the defendant can't get a fair trail 2/3

Tony Evans @TonyEvansTimes
And it works! BUT AT LEAST YOU TOLD THE WORLD WHAT YOU THOUGHT BACK DURING THE INQUESTS! FREE SPEECH, LIKE! NO ONE'S STOPPING YOU! 3/3

[G]

And this.

@david_conn: The Judicial Office has repeated warning to press and public against making comments about Hillsborough Inquests in media or social media."

[dom9]

This story isn't related to Hillsborough, but South Yorkshire Police.

South Yorkshire Police 'diverted funds from abuse investigation

Senior South Yorkshire Police officers diverted money away from a child sexual exploitation investigation, a former detective has told BBC News.

Thousands of pounds were used instead to tackle robbery, car crime and burglary, Tony Brookes claims.

The money was moved to target the "priority crimes" despite mounting evidence young girls in Sheffield were suffering serious sexual abuse.

South Yorkshire Police said they were not aware money had been diverted.

Mr Brookes said the money was invested in dealing with robbery, car crime and burglary, which were the force's priority crimes as a result of mandatory government targets.

The recently retired South Yorkshire Police detective worked on an investigation into child sexual exploitation in Sheffield in 2007.

He said he sought a budget of £24,000 from force headquarters for Operation Glover but had been given £16,000, a figure he described as "inadequate".

Mr Brookes claimed that just months into the investigation he was called to a meeting and told that the budget had been spent.

He said he was astonished, having kept a close eye on costs and knowing he had spent less than £8,000.

The other £8,000 was "spent on district priorities, to investigate robbery, burglary and car crime".

He told the BBC: "I asked several times where's the money gone and the stock answer was: 'It's gone'. Without the budget, we all went back to our normal roles."

Former South Yorkshire Police detective Tony Brookes Tony Brookes said he had kept a close eye on spending
The allegations come after former detectives told BBC News that senior officers ignored efforts to open inquiries into child sexual exploitation in Sheffield.

Mr Brookes claimed that the funds were diverted despite detectives being aware of allegations that young girls were being sexually and physically abused in Sheffield - and despite senior officers being sent a report urging inquiries to continue after the end of Operation Glover.

The money was re-allocated to meet Home Office targets and failing to meet them would have harmed the force's reputation, he said.

Crime targets were introduced by the Labour government in 2002. Police forces in England and Wales were told they had to prioritise certain offences, in particular car crime, robbery and burglary.

Like all forces, South Yorkshire's performance would be judged by how well they hit the targets.

'Distortion of figures'

Another former South Yorkshire officer has told the BBC that some attempts to reduce such crimes were highly misleading and lacking in transparency.

The officer, who does not want to be identified, said distortion of the figures had been "happening every day."

Experienced detectives were prevented from recording certain crimes and instead had to submit a report with specially-created units deciding how it would be catalogued, he claimed.

He said: "They (officers in those units) would go to a meeting in the morning and the senior officer would say: 'How many robberies did we have yesterday?'

"Instead of there being eight reports of robberies, it would be: 'Well we had two' because they would have managed to (reduce it). They'd 'no crime' it, or they'd go back to the original complainant, get additional statements, and pressurise them to withdraw the complaint."

One example he recalls is a gang member shooting five bullets at a woman through her kitchen window, from a distance of about six feet.

Instead of the incident being recorded as attempted murder, it was marked down as "criminal damage to a window", he said.

Other forces have also been accused of distorting crime figures. In 2013 the chief constable of Derbyshire Police Mick Creedon said an "obsession" with reducing crime was creating a pressure on police to "manipulate" crime statistics.

South Yorkshire Police told us that they had no knowledge of the money being diverted from sexual exploitation investigations, but if they received any information they would investigate it thoroughly.

They said that the force "records crime ethically and according to the National Crime Recording Standards", adding: "A significant amount of training has been given to officers to ensure this happens."

This seems to be the latest in a long line of stories which frankly, question the whole Force's ability to be fit for it's purpose.

They are unaccountable at best. Brazenly corrupt at worst. But always, the common theme is that they have their own interests at heart first, and anything else is secondary.

[Shaggy]

I think we're okay talking about it on here, a largely private forum. But Twitter etc - keep quiet. Not worth it.

[EwarWoo]

This section is indexed by google isn't it?

It's a subject that may well be googled, if the warnings are to be believed this is not really any safer that anywhere else.

[kev776]

Is this the start of Justice for the 96?

[Chazza]

[ame]https://twitter.com/david_conn/status/577838600760459264[/ame]

[ame]https://twitter.com/david_conn/status/577840596821364736[/ame]

[ame]https://twitter.com/david_conn/status/577841926810050560[/ame]

[Rafa Justice]

That exchange could be massive tbf

[Fivex]

This section is indexed by google isn't it?

It's a subject that may well be googled, if the warnings are to be believed this is not really any safer that anywhere else.

I was going to suggest moving it to the library just in case but I don't think most know the library even exists.

[BobTheCharmer]

There's a good section on each of the 96 on the BBC website. Very emotional clicking on each one and reading about who they went with and their jobs etc.