HILLSBOROUGH ; TIME TO MOVE ON

The events at Hillsborough 27 years ago were shocking but surely it's now time for us all to move on.

Yesterday, the media was choc-a-bloc with stories about the inquest and, of course, they dragged up all the same old stuff from years gone by that they always do. Pictures of the crowd at the ground on the day were set alongside rather grotesque images of a smaller crowd standing outside of the court and chanting their victory songs. Frankly, the latter simply showed just how fanatical and moronic football supporters and their families can be.

The coroner's jury, reduced to only 9 members, had determined that those who died in the tragedy had been victims of 'unlawful killing', though this was not a unanimous verdict and may have been the opinion of only 7 of the remaining jurors; this hardly seems grounds for such elation amongst the families of the deceased or, indeed, such blanket coverage by the media. Now we are faced with the prospect of 2 more inquiries concluding in the coming months and which may send files to the Crown Prosecution Service; given the over-hyped and over-sentimentalised way in which this whole episode has been handled, it seems likely that someone will eventually be charged, tried, condemned and sentenced. We do like to have our scapegoats and, always, someone to blame.

Was anyone really to blame or was Hillsborough simply a result of a series of blunders allied to the fervour which so often surrounds major football matches ? Is it really the case that the 96 who died were 'unlawfully killed' ? Was any one, or 2 or 3, people really responsible, solely, for what happened ?

We are looking back through the prism of 27 years and attempting to apply what we know now to what happened then. Not only have times changed, but so have perceptions and, even, our understanding of what we are prepared to accept as reasonable or normal. What was a tragic accident can easily become murder in the manic search for someone to blame; in short, it's a witch hunt, merrily fuelled by the media.

Hillsborough was a terrible event and mistakes were made, but to keep stoking the embers will serve no one in the long run. It's time to move on, with lessons learned.