Hillsborough Inquest: Police Officer Breaks Down

A former police commander giving evidence at the Hillsborough inquests broke down and cried as he recalled the moment he stopped the match.

Retired South Yorkshire police superintendent Roger Greenwood was shown photographs and video footage of the disaster that unfolded on 15 April 1989 and which left 96 Liverpool fans dead.

He faltered on a number of occasions as he tried to answer barristers' questions and, at one point, the coroner called for a brief adjournment to allow him time to recover.

Mr Greenwood told the hearing that when he realised that fans were in distress at the front of the Leppings Lane terrace, he tried to get those behind to move back.

"I motioned to the crowd and shouted to them to move back because in my view there was room to do that," he said, adding that it did not seem to have any effect on the crowd.

Mr Greenwood said that he radioed the police control box but received no response. Inquest barrister Jonathan Hough asked him to describe the moment that he decided to stop the FA cup semi-final match.

The retired police officer said: " I went to the referee and I told him ..."

At this point he paused, clearly struggling to control his emotions.

He said that, even at that stage if somebody had told him how many people were to lose their lives, he would have believed it "out of the question".

He continued: "It is impossible in my view to portray in writing or I think really from the screen as to exactly what that situation was like. It was utter chaos. Utter chaos. It was an emergency that I have never witnessed before. It will remain with me for the rest of my life."

Mr Greenwood told the inquests of his frustration at having received no response to radio messages to the police control box.

He said: "I expected the control room who were aware of the seriousness of the situation to take control. I felt as if I was dealing with the disaster alone."

Later, Mr Greenwood was questioned about a briefing with his chief constable on the day after the Hillsborough tragedy. The inquests were told that the superintendent told the chief that "if things turn against them (Liverpool supporters) they turn. They are nasty..."

Earlier, the witness had revealed that, in the half-hour before the match, he was keen to make sure that the then Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough could get to his seat safely before kick-off and had moved press photographers from an area around the central players' tunnel.

Mr Hough asked: "Should you as the ground commander have been concerning yourself with these matters of the press and Mr Clough and should you not have been more concerned with the crowd in the stadium?"

Mr Greenwood said that his position near the players' tunnel at that stage gave him the best vantage point of the crowd and was "an established position" for senior officers policing a football match.

He said that what he saw later when fans eventually cleared the Leppings Lane end of the Sheffield stadium went "beyond my wildest expectations."