Book description
Hillsborough: The Truth was first published in 1999 to
universal acclaim. Established as the definitive, unique account of
the disaster in which 96 men, women and children died, hundreds were
injured and thousands were traumatised, it details the appalling
treatment endured by the bereaved and survivors in the immediate
aftermath and the inhumanity of the identification process.
The book reveals the inadequacies of the police investigations,
official inquiries and inquests, and uncovers the systematic review
and alteration of South Yorkshire police statements conducted with the
approval of police investigators and Lord Justice Taylor's inquiry. It
also examines the subsequent private prosecution and trial of two
senior police officers in 2000. Using verbatim accounts, Scraton's
analysis demonstrates the inadequacy of legal processes and the
remarkable breadth of judicial discretion undermining and inhibiting
such cases.
Powerful, disturbing and harrowing, Hillsborough: The Truth
exposes the institutional complacency that made a tragedy on this
scale inevitable. It shows the law's failure to provide appropriate
means of access, disclosure and redress for those facing the
consequences of institutional neglect and personal negligence. And it
tells how ordinary people suffer when those in authority sacrifice
truth and accountability to protect their reputations.
In this new edition, Scraton reflects critically on two decades of
legal and policy reform, on the long-term consequences of media-hyped,
untruthful allegations made against Liverpool fans, and on the
continuing strugglesof the bereaved and survivors who have campaigned
relentlessly for truth, acknowledgement and justice.
Phil Scraton is Professor of Criminology at Queen's University,
Belfast. His latest books are
Power, Conflict and Criminalisation
and
The Violence of Incarceration
.
