Hillsborough disaster: David Duckenfeld to go on trial for manslaughter
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The police officer in command during the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 is to face trial for manslaughter, a judge has ruled.
An inquest two years ago found that 96 football fans who were crushed to death in the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough were unlawfully killed.
Former South Yorkshire police chief superintendent David Duckenfeld has now had his application for the charges to be dismissed rejected by judge Mr Justice Openshaw.
He ruled that a stay on prosecuting Mr Duckenfeld, imposed in 2000 by Mr Justice Hooper, should be lifted.
The Crown Prosecution Service had applied for the stay to be lifted last year, following the 2014-16 inquests.
Four other men who had applied for their prosecutions to be stayed will also go on trial.
The CPS has not pursued a manslaughter charge against against Mr Duckenfeld relating to the 96th person who died, Tony Bland, as his death occurred four years after the disaster.
The 18-year-old suffered critical brain injuries in the crush on Hillsborough’s Leppings Lane terrace and was put on life support, which was turned off in 1993 after his family made a court application.
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