Hillsborough inquests - May 1
The Hillsborough inquests commenced on March 31, 2014 and are the subject of reporting restrictions that have been imposed by the Attorney General's office. Liverpool Football Club is respectful of these restrictions and will therefore only be making available updates from other media channels for the duration of the inquest.
The report below - and the witness testimony contained within it - does not necessarily reflect the views of Liverpool FC. Please be aware that the reports on these pages will contain evidence about the day of the disaster which may be distressing.
To view archive reports from each day of the inquest hearings, click here.
Courtesy of the BBC - May 1
A former police chief has said he was "wrong" to issue a statement saying fans' behaviour at Hillsborough "made the job of the police harder", the inquests have heard.
Sir Norman Bettison made the comments the day after a report into the disaster was published.
He told the jury he "regrets" making the comments "in the terms that I did, on the day that I did".
Ninety-six fans died following a crush at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final.
Sir Norman was chief constable of West Yorkshire Police when he made the comments, following the publication of the 2012 Hillsborough Independent Panel report.
He said he decided to publish the remarks after a "firestorm" of media attention.
The jury heard that he felt at the time he was "front and centre of the very serious allegations of cover-up".
Sir Norman was giving evidence for a second day at the new inquests into the disaster, sitting in Warrington, Cheshire.
He issued the press statement on 13 September 2012, saying: "(Lord Justice) Taylor was right in saying that the disaster was caused, mainly, through a lack of police control.
"Fans' behaviour, to the extent that it was relevant at all, made the job of the police, in the crush outside Leppings Lane turnstiles, harder than it needed to be.
"But it didn't cause the disaster any more than the sunny day that encouraged people to linger outside the stadium as kick-off approached."
Sitting at the court in front of rows of the bereaved Hillsborough families, Sir Norman told the jury: "The strategy that I had engaged in prior to the publication of the report was to make no comment whatsoever.
"And yet on the publication and the subsequent public meetings that took place, I had come front and centre of the very serious allegations of cover-up and putting the blame on the Liverpool fans for causing the deaths of 96 innocent people.
"I made a judgement that I needed to respond to that. The communication that I put out was hurried, it was ill-thought through and it was wrong at the time.
"What I was doing was a summary of my honestly held beliefs."
The court heard how Sir Norman, who also ran Merseyside Police, issued a "clarifying" statement the day after his remarks.
Jonathan Hough QC, asking questions on behalf of the coroner, said: "Had there been any hostile press in the intervening time?"
The retired senior officer replied: "I'm fighting the temptation to smile. It had been a firestorm.
"There were camera crews and journalists camped outside my house for 48 hours."
In his second statement, he said he was "deeply sorry" and "the fans of Liverpool Football Club were in no way to blame for the disaster".
The statement added: "The police failed to control the situation which ultimately led to the tragic deaths of 96 entirely innocent people.
"I can be no plainer than that and I'm sorry if my earlier statement, intended to convey the same message, has caused further upset.
"My role was never to besmirch the fans. I did not do that."
The inquests continue.