David Duckenfield has been cleared of manslaughter over the Hillsborough tragedy.
A jury found the ex-South Yorkshire Police chief not guilty of the charge relating to the deaths of 95 Liverpool supporters in the 1989 disaster following a retrial.
Charges were not brought over the death of Tony Bland, the 96th victim, whose life support was finaly withdrawn in 1993 and fell outside of prosecution law.
Duckenfield was the match commander for the FA Cup semi-final on April 15 which led to the unlawful killing of the men, women and children in Sheffield.
The Crown Prosecution Service brought a fresh charge against the 75-year-old earlier this year after the original jury failed to reach a majority verdict in April.
But Duckenfield was found innocent of the charge after a seven-week trial at Preston Crown Court, which concluded with Thursday’s verdict.
Both in Preston and at Liverpool’s Cunard Building, where families of the 96 watched proceedings on a live broadcast, the ruling was met with both anger and distress.
Christine Burke, whose father Henry Burke was one of those that lost their lives at Hillsborough, stood up in court to address judge Sir Peter Openshaw.
She said: “With all due respect, my lord, 96 people were found unlawfully killed to a criminal standard.
“I want to know who is responsible for the death of my father, because somebody was.”
Hillsborough Family Support Group chair Margaret Aspinall, who lost 15-year-old son James in the tragedy, echoed that bewilderment at a lack of accountability.
“How can an inquest rule that 96 people were unlawfully killed at Hillsborough yet no-one in authority is accountable for those deaths?”, she asked.
“If David Duckenfield’s not responsible, who killed my son?”