An open letter to Jeremy Clifford, Editor of the Sheffield Star

[Darth Vader 10]

Very true. Although I wonder how much has been shredded or "lost" in the past though.

 

I wonder if the video tapes missing from the control room will ever turn up.

[alchresearch 215]

I wonder if the video tapes missing from the control room will ever turn up.

 

The police don't have a good record when it comes to looking after tapes....

 

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1003/1003619_trespassers_find_police_videos.html

[rossyrooney 12]

Please keep in mind that the ordinary everyday bobby was on that pitch giving first aid and comfort to the victims and the injured.

I can't begin to understand the horrific circumstances those coppers found themselves in,it's ok to say it was an all round poor performance by the police,but.lets focus on the higher ups when apportioning blame.

[mikem8634 10]

Please keep in mind that the ordinary everyday bobby was on that pitch giving first aid and comfort to the victims and the injured.

I can't begin to understand the horrific circumstances those coppers found themselves in,it's ok to say it was an all round poor performance by the police,but.lets focus on the higher ups when apportioning blame.

 

Well said - I think that to the 'higher ups' the fans that day were just disposable - it really could have happened to any group of fans as the general political culture saw mass gatherings of the working classes as threatening - the same attitude pervaded the miner's strike and led to the Criminal Justice Act.

 

It must never be forgotten that the bobby's were let down by their 'superiors' that day and many must still suffer the scars today.

[pottedplant 10]

Well said - I think that to the 'higher ups' the fans that day were just disposable - it really could have happened to any group of fans as the general political culture saw mass gatherings of the working classes as threatening - the same attitude pervaded the miner's strike and led to the Criminal Justice Act.

 

It must never be forgotten that the bobby's were let down by their 'superiors' that day and many must still suffer the scars today.

 

What a despicable thing to say.

[mikem8634 10]

What a despicable thing to say.

 

I don't quite understand what you're getting at.

[mikem8634 10]

I don't quite understand what you're getting at.

 

Do the well-documented facts not betray a callous attitude from the higher echelons of SYP having, as they did, a preoccupation that they were dealing with hooliganism and nothing but and beginning, as they did, a cover-up almost immediately? Is that callousness and disregard not echoed in the subsequent smear campaign that took hold of the truth for 23 years?

[Sausage Dog 10]

Maybe!! I did send it to Mr Clifford in person to give him the opportunity to respond. He hasn't. Hence the open letter.

 

I notice that The Star continue to report on the role that SYP and Patnick played in spreading the deception, but still no mention of its own role in this.

 

You do realise that journalists are even less accountable than the police - the first to criticise, the last to apologise.

[LeMaquis 10]

I think you're looking to be critical for the sake of being critical.

Of course it doesn't mean that, which I suspect you know. The Star did not print all of the discredited allegations, just some of them, for which it is sorry.

 

I wasn't being critical for the sake of being critical. I think I mis-read it as apologising for some of the discredited comments but not for others, rather than as you have pointed out, for publishing some. Re-reading it I see what was intended. I just didn't read it that way at the time. The word some came across to me differently than was intended. When I saw the word some the first time I read it, it came across as if they were only aplogising for some. So yes you're right on that and I did mis-read it

[RichinR'mond 10]

Congratulations !! - their concience was finally pricked - leading to an 'apology' of sorts this week.

[Darth Vader 10]

I wasn't being critical for the sake of being critical. I think I mis-read it as apologising for some of the discredited comments but not for others, rather than as you have pointed out, for publishing some. Re-reading it I see what was intended. I just didn't read it that way at the time. The word some came across to me differently than was intended. When I saw the word some the first time I read it, it came across as if they were only aplogising for some. So yes you're right on that and I did mis-read it

 

In your support, I have to say that is also how I read it, before reading the other comments on here afterwards.