TIME TO LET HILLSBOROUGH GO.

The lunacy of bringing a person to trial 30 years after an event seems to have been exposed today, although the prospect of a retrial remains.

David Duckenfield has been hounded by families of those who died at Hillsborough Stadium since the tragedy which occurred in April 1989. As the senior police officer in charge of events on that day, he has been charged with manslaughter by negligence, a charge which, of itself, demands a subjective view of what negligence means. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the jury in the case, after deliberating for nearly 30 hours, could not agree on a verdict, even after the judge said that he'd accept a verdict on which only 10 of the 12 jurors agreed; clearly, the jury was very divided.

Over a period of 30 years, memories fade and can become distorted; perceptions change and even views of what might be acceptable change. How was 'negligence' as a concept viewed in 1989 as compared with today ? Indeed, how can there be a fair trial in such circumstances ?

Apparently the prosecution is keen to stage a retrial although this rather smacks of simply having another go to see if the 'right' verdict can be obtained. If the evidence didn't convince one jury, why should it convince another ? Surely enough is enough. The modern mania for looking for someone to blame for every 'tragedy' has led to Duckenfield being subjected to the most insane persecution for decades. Why will no one simply accept that, on that day in 1989, things went wrong, but it was a terrible accident, not a result of criminal action ? Perhaps Duckenfield and others made the wrong decisions but did they have any intention of causing people to die ? Of course they didn't. Faced with a crowd of thousands of people acting individually and collectively but with their own volition, could anyone truly be accused of being negligent in failing to control them ? Not in a month of Sundays.

Thirty years after the event, shocking though it was, it's time to draw a line and bring an end to this fanatical and ludicrous search for someone to blame.