Extent of official cover-up revealed by Hillsborough Independent Panel report

The true extent of the cover-up of official failures at Hillsborough was revealed for the first time with the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel's report.

The documents disclosed to the panel also revealed that further attempts were made to "impugn the reputations of the deceased by carrying out Police National Computer checks on those with a non-zero alcohol level." The panel found that access to cabinet documents revealed that in an exchange about her Government welcoming the Taylor Report, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher expressed her concern that the "broad thrust" of the report constituted a "devastating criticism of the police". It also found that "it is evident that the primary concern of the government at the time was the potential impact (positive or negative) on the Parliamentary passage of the planned Football Spectators Bill. The documents go on to reveal the original pathologists' evidence of a single, unvarying pattern of death was "unsustainable", the panel said. The families have always disputed the accidental verdict which followed the inquest into the deaths.