Judge slammed for Hillsborough remarks

Retired judge Sir Oliver Popplewell has sparked fury among Liverpool’s Hillsborough campaigners by condemning their ‘conspiracy theories’.

Home secretary Theresa May has pledged to release all possible documents on the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, which tragically left 96 Merseyside fans dead.

Subsequent accusations of blame levelled at supporters rather than the authorities have seen the victim’s families and friends launch a campaign of ‘Justice for the 96’, in an attempt to shed fresh light on the tragedy and give closure to families still waiting to find out exactly how and why their loved ones died.

But the former judge, who chaired the public inquiry into the fire at Bradford City stadium in 1985 which killed 56 people, chastised the campaigners for dredging up the past.

“The citizens of Bradford behaved with quiet dignity and great courage,” Popplewell wrote in a letter to The Times.

“They did not harbour conspiracy theories. They did not seek endless further inquiries.”

“They buried their dead, comforted the bereaved and succoured the injured. They organised a sensible compensation scheme and moved on.”

“Is there, perhaps, a lesson there for the Hillsborough campaigners?”

Labour MP Steve Rotheram branded the letter ‘unbelievable’, telling The Guardian: “How insensitive does somebody have to be to write that load of drivel?”

“To mention other tragedies simply because they are football-related, as if there is some common denominator because they happened in football stadiums, beggars belief.”

“Was there a conspiracy after the Bradford fire? Did the government try to blame the Bradford City fans for setting fire to the stadium on purpose?”

“It shows how people right at the top of the establishment still harbour prejudice and ignorance.”

One such family member, Margaret Aspinall, whose son James died in the crush at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground, said: “He ought to be ashamed of himself.”