On Monday 17 April, DS Oughton of SYP was instructed to obtain all video footage taken by SWFC on the day of the disaster, as part of SYP’s work to preserve evidence. By this stage, SYP had already secured its own video tapes from the PCB for review. These were passed to WMP once it took over the investigation. This was all fully documented.
DS Oughton phoned SWFC and was told by a solicitor working for the club that all the tapes were in a locked safe at the ground, but that SWFC was not yet willing to release them. Later that same day, the solicitor phoned DS Oughton back and told him two of the tapes were missing.
On 18 April, DS Oughton visited the ground where he met the technical consultant, who showed him the recording system and described what had happened. DS Oughton made a report of this visit. He noted that the technical consultant said he had ejected the tapes, locked the room and set the alarm, then returned the following morning at 9am and found the tapes missing.
In his report, DS Oughton commented that there were no signs of forced entry to the room or to the cupboard where the video recorders were kept.
SYP did not conduct any further enquiries. Shortly after this, SYP handed over responsibility for all investigative actions related to the disaster to WMP and did not investigate the disappearance of the tapes further.
However, the evidence of this initial period indicates that SYP had acted promptly and professionally in relation to the issue. Further, the fact that SYP had already prepared its own videos for investigation—which were potentially far more damaging for SYP than SWFC’s footage—indicates it is unlikely that SYP would then seek to prevent SWFC’s tapes being made available.
