Norman Bettison defends book on Hillsborough disaster

Sir Norman Bettison, the former chief constable of both Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police, has defended his book about the Hillsborough disaster, saying he is “entitled" to tell his story.

Bettison’s Hillsborough Untold is published by Biteback Publishing today (17th November), with all proceeds going to charity.

On 15th April 1989, 96 spectators lost their lives at Sheffield’s Hillsborough stadium as they gathered for an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The events that day sparked a controversy that continues to reverberate through British football and policing.

Bettison was a chief inspector in the South Yorkshire Police at the time of the Hillsborough disaster, and witnessed the tragedy as a spectator at the match. He has since found himself one of the focal points of outrage over the actions of the police. Comments he made in the wake of the Hillsborough Independent Panel in 2012 stoked criticism in the press and in parliament, and in October 2012 he resigned from his job as chief constable of West Yorkshire Police.

Speaking to the BBC, Bettison said he wrote the book after being “vilified”.

“Most of what’s been said about me is in the category of supposition, smear or just plain wrong facts,” he said. "I'm surely entitled, after all that's been written about me, to put my account there. People don't have to read it, they don't have to accept it. But it's there for anybody who's open minded enough and fair minded enough to look at it."

He said he dedicated the book to his children as he was concerned about the material about him on the internet and said that “googling Grandpa” might “bring all sorts of stuff back”.

"If they should ever be troubled by the unanswered concern that grandpa was a criminal, that he was involved in shameful stuff in the aftermath of a tragedy of immense proportions, then they've got something to turn to and make their own mind up," he said.

In April, a jury reached a verdict of "unlawful killing" for the 96 fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough Stadium. The jury said the police were guilty of serious failures before and after the event.

Bettison remains under investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission regarding his alleged involvement in a police cover-up.

In an interview with BBC Radio Merseyside, Bettison said he had "concealed nothing" and defended police officers on duty on the day of the disaster.

There were many who "still bear a sense of guilt that they were impotent, that they couldn't do anything, that they didn't do anything to avert a catastrophe," he said.

Bettison added that while he does not believe he will ever repair his reputation, he hoped the book would give anyone "curious enough" the opportunity "to check the facts".

He added: "Part of the reason I've written the book is the people who are deserving of the most honest account of what went on are the 96 families that were bereaved and have lost as a result of the events at Hillsborough."

Biteback has not yet responded to a request for comment.