Former South Yorkshire
police chief was on trial after new investigation and inquestsHow David Duckenfield’s trial left Hillsborough families distraught againThe former South Yorkshire police chief superintendent David Duckenfield has been found not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter more than 30 years after he commanded the police at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough between
Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, at which 96 people died.
The verdict came in a retrial that began on 7 October. A first trial on the same charge, heard by the same judge, Sir Peter Openshaw, ended on 3 April with the jury unable to reach a verdict. Duckenfield was charged in June 2017 following a new police investigation into the disaster, Operation Resolve, and verdicts of unlawful killing returned by the jury at the 2014-16 inquests in Warrington.