For families of the 97 people unlawfully killed at Hillsborough it is yet another traumatic blow that the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has cleared Jonathan Goldberg QC of misconduct over his inflammatory little speeches about the disaster that he made last year. During the decades since they lost their loved ones owing to the gross negligence of South Yorkshire police families have been forced to fight relentless police lies and cover-ups about the cause of the disaster, and many legal letdowns.
But contemplating Goldberg’s repetition of the original 1989 police case, that the victims, Liverpool supporters themselves, were to blame for the disaster, and the BSB’s self-important, tin-eared exoneration, it is striking how forcefully the families did succeed in establishing the truth. It is increasingly important now, given the disturbing impulse of some football fans to disrespect the 97, the incalculable human suffering, and subject Liverpool supporters to hateful chanting.
