Police officers who served in South Yorkshire in the 1980s have been told they “did a good job” despite the deaths of 96 fans at Hillsborough.
Rick Naylor, secretary of the South Yorkshire branch of the National Association of Retired Police Officers (Narpo), said ex-officers acted with “dignity” despite the “bile and hatred” aimed at them.
His comments come just days after a jury found those who died in the football stadium disaster were unlawfully killed and police errors contributed to the unsafe conditions.
In a message entitled “It was a bad day” and accidentally posted on a website for retired South Yorkshire Police officers, Mr Naylor wrote: “After all that transpired yesterday it has not shaken my belief – I worked in a great police force with fantastic people who did extraordinary things.
“I am extremely proud to be an ex-South Yorkshire cop and I will hold my head up.
“South Yorkshire Police faced immense challenges in the 1980s – the steel strike, the miners’ dispute and Hillsborough, and along the way we caught the Yorkshire Ripper!
“All these challenges tested SYP (South Yorkshire Police), and, yes, mistakes were made and we would all like to turn the clock back, but beyond these headlines the communities of South Yorkshire were served by dedicated police officers, full of good humour, courage, and selflessness – and that was you.
“You will be feeling sore, angry and disheartened and that is understandable but you did a good job – we all did!”
His comments, which were accidentally posted on a website for retired officers and have since been removed, were in stark contrast to a public press statement which said the force has “great sympathy for the grief” of those bereaved in the tragedy.
They come after South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable David Crompton was suspended on Wednesday amid an outcry over the handling of the inquest and the police’s response.
Mr Naylor’s statement has been met with anger by the families of those killed and by politicians.
Labour MP for Liverpool Walton Steve Rotheram told the Press Association: “lt’s totally insensitive. For families – for them to have at long last to have some faith in the British judicial system and that the police had changed and that things were different – it feeds that ‘us versus them’ and we thought we’d put a line under that.
“I don’t think there was bile and hatred towards police officers, I think the bile and hatred was one way and that was towards Liverpool fans and some of that was a direct consequence of the police being part of an orchestrated cover-up.”
He said the South Yorkshire force needed to accept the verdict of the jurors.
He said: “It wasn’t just a partial exoneration, it was a total and complete and absolute clearing of all of the charges against Liverpool fans. They came back with a decision of unlawful killing.
“This is a force that has showed no remorse whatsoever – they can’t praise people who are the senior officers who caused the unlawfully killing of 96 people.”
Barry Devonside, whose 18-year-old son Christopher died in the tragedy, told the BBC: “They didn’t do a good job. Yes, I saw police officers endeavouring to give mouth-to-mouth or CPR and those people were excellent.
“But the sad thing is they were only a few, maybe on two hands you could count them.”
Mr Naylor was one of the officers policing the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough.
In a witness statement submitted to the Hillsborough Independent Panel, Mr Naylor said that before the disaster he spoke to Liverpool fans in the Sheffield stadium, “all of whom were friendly, happy and none of whom appeared to have been drinking intoxicants”.
He said he spotted an unusual number of empty seats in the stand as the players came on to the pitch just before the match.
He described a “sudden surge” of supporters as the match kicked off at 3pm and fans climbing the fence to escape a “terrific crush”.
He added: “As more and more spectators got on to the ground, I saw people being given mouth-to-mouth and heart massage and it became apparent that people were badly injured or even dead.
“However, from the time the game was stopped, it seemed 20 minutes or so before any message or instructions were passed over to the police radio and I cannot remember any directions for police officers to go on to the pitch or stay where they were and it was apparently left to individual officers’ discretion.”
South Yorkshire Police came under fire in the House of Commons on Wednesday, with criticism led by shadow home secretary Andy Burnham, who accused the force of “protecting itself above protecting people”.
He said families had been put “through hell again” during the longest jury case in British legal history and millions had been spent to continue a “cover-up” and retell “discredited lies against Liverpool supporters”.
