Police officers should have faced charges over the Hillsborough disaster.
A new report has confirmed that up to 12 figures from the South Yorkshire and West Midlands forces would have all been subject to gross misconduct proceedings.
They include chief constable Peter Wright and chief superintendent David Duckenfield, the match commander when 97 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed.
Norman Bettison, who later served as chief constable of Merseyside Police, is also named in the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report into the tragedy.
However due to all retiring prior to the start of IOPC’s investigation, none of those named in the 366-page document will face retrospective disciplinary action.
The report was published on Tuesday (December 2) and highlighted ‘concerted efforts’ to smear supporters in the aftermath of the events that unfolded in Sheffield.
Duckenfield would have faced 10 alleged breaches for his ‘failures in decision making and communication related to managing the build-up of the game’.
Wright, who died in 2011, stands accused of 10 alleged breaches of the Police Disciplinary Code for actions in the wake of the tragedy at the FA Cup semi-final.
South Yorkshire Police are also said to have ‘fundamentally failed’ planning for the match and attempting to ‘deflect the blame’ on traumatised supporters and relatives.
The report revealed 327 statements taken from officers were amended which marks 100 more than previously uncovered by the Hillsborough Independent Panel in 2012.
But the South Yorkshire Police Federation responded to the IOPC report by claiming it is ‘not fair or balanced’ and claimed its former officers ‘do not have any kind of due process’ to respond to the allegations made by the findings.
Families of the victims described the lack of accountability for those named in the report as a ‘bitter injustice’ after the watchdog’s 14-year investigation.
Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James was one of the 97, said: “How lucky are they [the police officers] to have died in their own home, not traumatised like we all were.
“The youngest who died at Hillsborough was 10, how lucky are they to grow old.
“I’m so angry with their response.”