While SYP’s actions appear to have been in line with what might be expected, the IOPC has identified a series of concerns about the thoroughness of the WMP investigation and the records WMP made relating to it.
This investigation was led by Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Tope (DCI Tope), who began by taking signed statements from the four key witnesses, followed by further statements from the technical consultant and police officer who worked in the SWFC control room.
On 13 May 1989, DCI Tope submitted a report in which he wrote that, despite making “full enquiries” at the ground including a “thorough search”, the tapes had not been found. However, there is no documentary evidence of what searches took place.
Given there were no signs of forced entry, this would tend to suggest that the room had either been left unlocked by the technical consultant or the head of security, or that it had been unlocked by someone else. WMP did not establish who had access to keys. There are indications in the existing accounts that there was at least one more set of keys, kept in Mr Mackrell’s office, but the IOPC has not been able to confirm this, nor who would have had access to them. There is nothing to suggest that WMP attempted to interview Mr Mackrell about this or any other aspect of the tapes’ disappearance.
No WMP officer contacted DS Oughton to ask him for further details of his initial steps.
Finally, the notes from DCI Tope on the action mentioned that “Supporters, relatives, press etc had virtually unrestricted access to stadium on 15.4.89 due to disaster.” This comment appears to imply that any of those—or indeed, any other member of the public—could have removed the tapes. However, it overlooks some key points:
according to several witnesses the room was locked
there is no obvious reason for any of these individuals to have known that the facility even existed
SYP officers and SWFC staff also had unrestricted access to the stadium
DCI Tope died in 1992. The IOPC has not found evidence of any occasion where he was asked about the investigation he conducted into the missing tapes.
While there are reasons to question the rigour of the investigation he conducted, there was insufficient evidence available 30 years on to ascertain exactly what steps he did take. This meant that the IOPC could not answer whether his investigation reached the standards that a competent detective could reasonably be expected to have achieved.
There is also some indication of disquiet or frustration among SYP officers about the way WMP investigated the disappearance of the tapes.
On 10 May 1989, D Ch Supt Addis sent ACC Anderson a report around the disappearance of the tapes. In it, he noted that the SYP officer who worked in the SWFC control room had been interviewed three times by WMP, “who, it appears, seems somewhat dissatisfied with our officers explanations.” In a statement to Operation Resolve, he reiterated his concerns about this and commented that it appeared the SYP officer “was their only suspect.”
In relation to the bigger picture, the IOPC also found no evidence to suggest SYP was involved in any cover-up, or indeed in the disappearance of the tapes in any way.
