Examining the evidence around allegations about supporter behaviour

The IOPC examined the evidence around each of the allegations about supporter behaviour that were reported in the media.
Again, the focus was to look at whether the allegations were based on comments made by police officers and if so, whether there was evidence to support the comments.
In most cases, even where the reports appeared to indicate that police officers may have been the source of the allegation, the evidence of disruptive supporter behaviour was—and still is—very limited.
For example, WMP sought to investigate the allegation about supporters coming to the ground without tickets by including a question on the standard questionnaire it used for Liverpool supporters about whether they had got an advance ticket for the game and whether they still had it.
On 12 June 1989, WMP sent an update on the issue to the Taylor Inquiry team, based on a review of 1,699 questionnaires WMP had completed with Liverpool supporters. Of these, 136 (8%) said they had travelled to Sheffield without a ticket for the Liverpool section. When questioned, 42 said they bought a ticket from a tout. A further 46 said they bought a ticket near the ground, without specifying from whom, while 36 entered the ground without a ticket. WMP applied these figures to the total number of tickets available for Liverpool supporters and suggested that alongside the 24,000 Liverpool supporters with tickets there would have been 2,088 without. This was at best a miscalculation: WMP found that just 36 of the 1,699 entered the ground without a ticket, equivalent to 2.1%, which if applied to the maximum attendance would have amounted to 212 supporters entering without tickets.
WMP did not provide any information about how this compared to other all-ticket games. Further, it would be logical that those who bought tickets from touts would not have then attempted to enter the ground without a ticket.
Detailed analysis by the HSE, carried out in preparation for the Popper Inquests in 1990, concluded that the total number of people on the Leppings Lane terraces on the day did not exceed the maximum allowed capacity of 10,100. It established that 7,494 supporters had entered the Leppings Lane terraces via the turnstiles; the HSE estimated a further 2,020–2,480 came through Gate C when it was opened at 2.48pm and 2.52pm. This indicates that fewer than 10,000 Liverpool supporters entered the terraces in total, undermining the suggestion that the crowd was swelled by people without tickets.
Similar gaps or uncertainties exist around other allegations reported in the first few days. For example, several newspaper reports claimed that police officers had been attacked by supporters as they attempted to rescue people from the crush. Though the IOPC found references in a number of officers’ original accounts to being struck in some way, by the time these officers gave accounts to Operation Resolve or the IOPC they were in general less definite that they had been attacked by supporters, as opposed to simply being jostled in the rescue effort. A comprehensive analysis of video footage and photos taken on the day found very little that depicted or even suggested supporters were attacking police officers.
WMP sent a list of 34 witnesses to the Taylor Inquiry who claimed they had seen officers being spat at. These included some supporters and other eyewitnesses as well as officers. In several cases, the alleged spitting took place outside the ground, or in other places away from the rescue effort. Three of the witnesses specifically noted that the spitting was by Nottingham Forest supporters rather than Liverpool supporters; one PC stated that he was spat at by supporters of both sides.
It is understood that it was not uncommon for football crowds at the time to spit at police officers. Further, it would not have been a cause of the disaster, nor would it have hampered any rescue efforts.
One of the stories in the White’s news feed focused on allegations of stealing. An anonymous officer was quoted as saying: “There was a lot of pilfering going on while the bid to save lives was taking place.” The story included the claim that Liverpool supporters were “picking the pockets of victims”, which was then repeated in The Sun.
At the Police Federation meeting on 19 April 1989, two officers were reported as saying that one of those who died in the disaster had “numerous wallets” in his possession. This was apparently accepted by the meeting as evidence of stealing among the Liverpool supporters. However, this allegation was comprehensively dismissed at the Goldring Inquests, by reference to a police log which listed the property of each of those who died. None had more than one wallet in their possession.
No police force or other investigation has ever received any complaint from a family member of someone who died in the disaster about theft from their loved one.
The central allegation about the behaviour of supporters was that a large number were under the influence of alcohol. Here there was, and remains, a clear divide in the evidence.
In broad terms, supporters have consistently stated that the overwhelming majority of fans did not drink to excess and that there was nothing unusual or remarkable about the level of drinking by supporters before the game. By contrast, a significant proportion of police officers have consistently stated that the level of alcohol consumption was much higher than normal for a football match.
There is insufficient evidence from any other source to say with certainty which of these perceptions was correct. However, perhaps the pivotal point of the media coverage was the inference that excessive drinking had been a factor in the disaster—if not as a direct cause, then at least aggravating the situation in some way and making the rescue effort harder.
This claim was rejected as early as the Taylor Interim Report in August 1989, which suggested that officers had overstated the impact of alcohol as a way of explaining the loss of police control. Further investigations, including most recently the Goldring Inquests, did not find evidence to suggest that alcohol consumption was a factor. The jury at the Goldring Inquests concluded that there was no behaviour on the part of football supporters which caused or contributed to the dangerous situation at the Leppings Lane turnstiles. Similarly, the IOPC has not found any evidence to suggest that the behaviour of supporters caused or contributed to the disaster.