THERE will be NO investigation into potential police misconduct at the Bradford City stadium disaster in 1985, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has decided.
The tragedy, where a wooden stand at Valley Parade was ablaze, left 56 football fans dead.
The IPCC said there is “no indication of potential misconduct by individual police officers”.
West Yorskshire Police had voluntarily referred itself to the commission.
The referral came after a senior officer met with Martin Fletcher – the Bradford City fan lost his father, brother, uncle and grandfather in the disaster.
A book written by Mr Fletcher claimed that the fire was one of NINE that occurred at businesses owned or linked to then-Bradford chairman Stafford Heginbotham.
The IPCC announced today that it would not be launching an investigation – but has announced that West Yorkshire Police should consider making more of its records available to the public.
It is possible, with hindsight, to identify things that the police could have done differently, but I do not consider that there is an indication that any individual officer may have breached the professional standards applicable at the time.
IPCC deputy chair Sarah Green
IPCC deputy chair Sarah Green said: “The fire at Bradford City’s Valley Parade Stadium in 1985 was a horrific tragedy that many of us can recall, resulting in the death of 56 people.
“Mr Fletcher, the complainant, suffered significant loss and trauma himself.
“My decision not to conduct an investigation was not taken lightly; it comes as a result of detailed consideration of both Mr Fletcher’s concerns about the role of the police and documents obtained from West Yorkshire Police, as well as evidence which is publicly available.
“It is possible, with hindsight, to identify things that the police could have done differently, but I do not consider that there is an indication that any individual officer may have breached the professional standards applicable at the time.
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Significant learning was rightly identified at the time of the disaster, and formed part of the evolution towards the modern day approach to policing large events."
The official inquiry, lead by Sir Oliver Popplewell, concluded that the fire was probably an accident, started when a fan dropped a cigarette into rubbish that had accumulated under an old timber stand.
Many fans were unable to get out as the blaze swept through the stand.
Fifty-four Bradford fans and two Lincoln City fans died, while a further 200 people were injured.
In a BBC documentary on the tragedy in 2015, a retired detective told the programme how officers had deduced who dropped the cigarette.
But the decision was taken not to release his name - the man has since died.
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