The Sheffield Star Lied About Hillsborough

There were several joint picket of the York Street offices of The Star by the Hillsborough Justice campaign and the Justice For Mark Barnsley campaign. Mark Barnsley was an old Sheffield anarchist who the cops fitted-up, the Star lied through their teeth about that case too.

'Amongst the most vicious of reports of the Disaster was the Sheffield Star and the Yorkshire Post. It should be noted that these would be the two most widely read papers in the Sheffield area and therefore it would be hard to select a jury for the inquests that had not been influenced in some way by their version of the 'facts'. The Sheffield Star reported:

"Many supporters were still propping up the bars at 2.30pm. They raced to the stadium arriving at the Leppings Lane end at the height of the crush. Some of them were the worse for drink, others without tickets were hoping to sneak in..." '

And

'The Sheffield Star was at the forefront of publishing serious allegations from the police:

"FANS IN DRUNKEN ATTACKS ON POLICE: Ticketless thugs staged crush to gain entry… attacked an ambulanceman, threatened firemen and punched and urinated on policemen as they gave the kiss of life to stricken victims." '

If The Star had to apologise for all the lies and smears its printed over the years the edition would be the size of a dozen yellow pages.

as news breaks that the IPCC are being considered to provide the smokescreen for the police.

Dear Mr Clifford,

On a day when other organisations were apologising for their actions before, during and after the Hillsborough Tragedy, the lack of any apology from the Sheffield Star is conspicuous by its absence.

The Sun Newspaper have apologised unreservedly for their reporting of the Hillsborough tragedy and described it as "the blackest day in this newspaper's history". However late and hollow this apology is I am saddened and disappointed to see that the Sheffield Star has made no reference to its own reporting of the tragedy.

Under the front page headline "Fans in Drunken Attacks on Police: Ticketless thugs staged crush to gain entry" your newspaper reported the allegations of the police which have now been entirely discredited. Yet the Sheffield Star has chosen to make no reference to this in the days following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report.

Although the Sheffield Star's reporting may have been made with a "lesser degree of certainty" to that of the Sun’s, the fact remains that these lies were printed on the front page, under a headline which forced these untruths firmly into the public eye.

The Hillsborough Independent Panel found no evidence to support the story that your newspaper ran on the 18th April 1989 and yet your organisation has done nothing to distance itself or apologise for reporting these lies.

It is almost beyond belief that in May 2012 you saw fit publish an apology to “Sheffield United Football Club, its fans and people who were upset by this” for an advert placed in your newspaper by Sheffield Wednesday supporters mocking Sheffield United’s inability to gain promotion, and yet you have chosen to ignore the hurt and upset that you caused the families and friends of the 96 dead, and the people of Liverpool, by your reporting of the despicable lies surrounding the events of this day.

Many Sheffield organisations have come under the spotlight as a result of the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report, and most have had the dignity and grace to apologise for the part that they played in the disaster. Today your organisation should feel ashamed that you have not sought to do the same.