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The significance of a change in turnstile allocation

  1. In total, there were 93 turnstiles at Hillsborough Stadium. Well over half of these were at the Spion Kop/Penistone Road end of the ground, which was where SWFC home fans would normally arrive for league games. The highest number of turnstiles provided access to the Spion Kop (the largest of the stands), but there were also turnstiles at this end that gave access to some areas of the South Stand and North Stand. 
     
  2. SYP had insisted that the segregation arrangements for the 1989 FA Cup Semi-Final had to replicate those used in 1988. To maintain the segregation between opposing supporters, 12 turnstiles, which would have allowed access to the North Stand from Penistone Road, were closed. Instead, all Liverpool supporters with tickets for the North Stand had to use the turnstiles at the Leppings Lane end, as did the Liverpool supporters with tickets for the West Terrace, North West Terrace and West Stand. This meant that in total, there were only 23 turnstiles available for almost 24,000 Liverpool supporters to enter the stadium. In both years, there were fewer turnstiles available at the Leppings Lane end than, according to Green Guide standards, there should have been for a crowd of that size. 
     
  3. However, for the 1989 game, there was a further change in the arrangements which meant that there was an additional change in the way the 23 turnstiles at the Leppings Lane end were allocated.
     
    • In 1988, 13 of the 23 turnstiles had been used to grant access to the West Stand (permitted capacity 4,465), the West Terrace (permitted capacity 7,200) and the North West Terrace (permitted capacity 2,900). So 14,565 supporters had to enter through 13 turnstiles.
    • For the 1989 game, 6 of these 13 turnstiles were used solely to grant access to the West Stand, with the remainder then dedicated to the West Terrace and North West Terrace. This change meant there were just seven turnstiles available to the 10,100 supporters with tickets for these areas. This equated to 1,443 supporters per turnstile. With a turnstile able to allow between 700 and 800 supporters in per hour, it would have required every turnstile to work continuously at full speed for almost two hours to let all the spectators in.
       
  4. In contrast, at the Spion Kop, 21,000 supporters had 42 turnstiles through which to enter the ground, equating to 500 supporters per turnstile.
     
  5. The decision to change the turnstile allocation was made by Mr Mackrell. It is not clear on what basis. Ch Supt Duckenfield did not know about the change. Supt Murray suggested he was aware of it, and understood its significance, but was uncertain when he had been told. At the Popper Inquests, he said that he had not questioned whether that was sufficient for the 10,100 supporters who needed to pass through them and that the turnstile arrangements were down to SWFC and nothing to do with him. Ch Supt Mole similarly told the Taylor Inquiry that “The arrangement for turnstiles is a matter of the Club's responsibility”.
     
  6. What is certain is that SYP did not adapt its plans in 1989 to reflect the change in allocation, for example, by considering whether to permit the use of some or all of the turnstiles at the Penistone Road end that would grant access to the North Stand. 
     
  7. In his 1989 account for the Taylor Inquiry, Ch Insp Beal confirmed that the possibility of Liverpool supporters accessing the North Stand via turnstiles 77 to 88 on Penistone Road was considered, but it was believed that this would have presented potential public order problems.
     
  8. There was no mention of the change in turnstile allocation in the Operational Order. This also meant that the supervisory officers at the Leppings Lane end were not aware of the change in advance. Many of these officers had considerable experience policing matches there and may have been better placed to identify the risk of this change.
     
  9. The change to the turnstile allocation was at the heart of the prosecution of Mr Mackrell under the HSWA 1974. 
     
  10. Sir Peter Openshaw, the judge in the case, explained the offence as follows: “…[Mr Mackrell] failed to take reasonable care, as the Safety Officer, in respect of the arrangements for admission to the Hillsborough Stadium and particularly in respect of turnstiles being of such numbers as to admit at a rate whereby no unduly large crowds would be waiting for admission.”
     
  11. Specifically, the judge stated that the charge against Mr Mackrell related to the changes he authorised between the 1988 and 1989 Semi-Finals to the allocation of the 23 turnstiles at the Leppings Lane end. The judge commented: “If the defendant had properly considered the consequences of this change of turnstile allocation which he made in 1989, he should have realised that there was an obvious risk that the so many spectators simply could not pass through just seven turnstiles in time before the kick-off; that being so, he should have realised that would cause a crowd to build up outside the turnstiles and he should have realised that that might present a risk of harm to those spectators waiting outside the grounds to pass through the turnstiles. ...that is exactly what happened.”
     
  12. On 3 April 2019, the jury found Mr Mackrell guilty of failing to discharge a duty under the HSWA 1974. He was sentenced to a fine of £6,500 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.