But the risk could be that saying the police are solely 100% responsible is that we send a message that fans can behave how they want and it's that sole responsibility of the police to make sure everything goes smoothly.
This is true, in general terms, and it is an important distinction to be made: that whilst the police have to be responsible for things like this, members of the public also have a responsibility to behave.
However, whilst I haven't followed the case all that closely, in this specific case the general behaviour of the fans to me, and especially in the circumstances, on the day seemed in order to me.
Yes there where fans inside the ground without tickets, that should not have been there to add to the crush. That aside, I can't see anything that would make me think that the Liverpool fans behaved in any way other than "well".
When there were people jumping to the stand above, when there were people climbing the fences onto the pitch, there was nothing but a sense of urgency to help people get out of that awful crush. When finally asked to leave the ground in an orderly fashion, they do so. Subdued, quietly, and as directed.
I cannot imagine losing a loved one to something so tragic, but I should imagine that 27 years later, to finally be told that it was not your loved one's fault must be overwhelming.
There is also plenty of
evidence of cover-up by the police, and criminal negligence such as that should definitely not be allowed to pass.
RIP.