Hillsborough: What do the charges mean and what are the maximum jail terms if convicted?

The six men charged over the 96 deaths at Hillsborough face trials for five separate offences. 

David Duckenfield, the former chief superintendent with South Yorkshire Police, is the only one of the men charged with gross negligence manslaughter; others have been charged with perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office which relate to alleged cover-ups by police and others in the aftermath of the tragedy. The company secretary at Sheffield Wednesday football club has been charged with two offences under health and safety laws.

The most serious charge is gross negligence manslaughter which carries a maximum life sentence on conviction.

Gross negligence manslaughter is a form of involuntary manslaughter where the offender did not intend to kill or cause really serious harm.  Instead the death resulted  from gross negligence.

In the event of a trial, a jury would have to decide whether the deaths at Hillsborough were as a result of gross negligence.

The complex law was clarified in a House of Lords ruling in 1994 in the case of R v Adomako. The test for gross negligence manslaughter is now known as the Adomako Test and requires a four stage test.

To secure a conviction, the Crown Prosecution Service must show firstly the existence of a duty of care to the deceased. Then, prove that duty of care was breached and thirdly that the breach of duty  caused or else significantly contributed to the deaths. Finally, prosecutors would have to convince a jury that the breach should be characterised as gross negligence, and therefore a crime.

Peter Metcalf, a solicitor acting for South Yorkshire Police, is charged with perverting the course of justice along with two officers, the former Chief Superintendent Donald Denton and Detective Chief Inspector Alan Foster. The charges relate to events after the incident and claims of attempts to cover-up police involvement in the Hillsborough deaths.

Perverting the course of justice also carries a maximum life sentence but again in reality a life sentence is highly unusual.

Prosecutors must show there was an intention to pervert or alter the course of justice.

The former chief constable Norman Bettison is charged with four offences of misconduct in a public office, relating to telling “alleged lies about his involvement in the aftermath of Hillsborough and the culpability of fans”.

It also carries a maximum life sentence. The prosecution must show a public officer either “wilfully neglects to perform his or her duty or wilfully misconducts himself” to such a degree  that it amounts to “an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder”.

A series of cases have established definitions for ‘wilful’ and a recognition that the behaviour must be serious enough to amount to abuse of public trust.

Graham Henry Mackrell, who was Sheffield Wednesday Football Club’s company secretary and safety officer at the time, has been charged with two offences of contravening a term of condition of a safety certificate contrary to the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 and one offence of failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of other persons who may have been affected by his acts or omissions at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.