Today the jury at the Hillsborough inquest delivered its verdict on the events of that horrible day, and they are devastating for the police and bring long delayed vindication, and some measure of justice, for the families of those who died.
In a series of damning answers to the 14 key questions, jurors laid the responsibility for the deaths at the feet of the police.
They stated their view that errors by the officers on duty were the key contributing factor in the disaster.
They specifically blamed those who were in command of the policing operation.
On the biggest question of all – whether the 96 who died were killed unlawfully – they also answered yes.
This is moment the families have been waiting for all these long years.
The jury has also said that the fans themselves played no part in the disaster, making a mockery of those decades old lies and innuendos.
On the question of whether stadium design defects contributed to the disaster, the jury said yes to that too.
Hillsborough happened in the aftermath of Heysel and other football related incidents, but the response of the government and the policing agencies was breathtakingly irresponsible and actually dangerous. The fences that went up at Hillsborough and elsewhere were always going to lead to this kind of tragedy, and the way Thatcher and her government viewed football supporters was an outrage and another contributory factor in these deadly events.
What a long and often terrible road this has been for the families.
It is impossible to overestimate how much courage they’ve shown over these years.
It must have been hellish to soldier on through previous inquests, through the Taylor Report, through those despicable headlines and in the face of so much public misunderstanding and even ignorance in places.
Those people died going to a football match.
It could have been any of us.
Their deaths haunt us all. Their memories live within every single one of us, and in some way we’ve all carried that flame in our hearts, that hope that we’d see a day like today. Because we know where these people and their loved ones come from. They come from where we do.
That the police lied about their part in all this, that a national newspaper slapped together a shameful story blaming the dead and their fellow supporters, and peddled blatant deceit for years beyond count is deplorable. This verdict has been so long delayed it must have seemed like it would never come, and the thoughts of every Celtic fan are with the families on Merseyside and beyond as they finally come to the end of their quest for the truth.
Real justice, of course, would be the prosecution of those who played their terrible role in what happened and who’ve spent the time since casting around blame and covering up their part in it. They lied so many times, in so many ways, that not one single serving officer who was there can be taken at his word when recollecting the events.
The cover-up was so systemic, so widespread, that if everyone involved were held to account – as they should be – the South Yorkshire Police would have to hold their next reunion in Parkhurst.
There have been many dreadful events in the history of football on this island, but none comes close to Hillsborough.
The death toll was horrific beyond belief, but in many ways what followed that day was far worse.
It’s taken so long that a lot of us thought we might never see it, but today the families can mourn, at last, and remember, at last, without that anger, without that black despair, knowing that they’ve cleared the names of their loved ones, that they’ve set the record straight for history, that their struggle has not been in vain.
It doesn’t bring back the dead.
It gives only some small measure of comfort to the living, but it serves as an example to us all of what it means to fight for the truth and to see that the truth prevails.
They are an inspiration.
They are heroes.
The world has always known the truth, of course, but sometimes the truth has to be spoken aloud.
Sometimes the official verdict has to reflect what really happened before you can move on.
Today, the truth rings out, and a message of support with it.
We are with you.
We’ve always been with you.
You’ve never walked alone.
Our hopes and prayers and tears and, today, our warmest applause, our most heartfelt best wishes, our admiration, love and eternal respect go with you, the families and friends of all who were there, and who never gave up the fight and who have finally prevailed.
At last, at long bloody last, Justice for the 96.
