The Lord-Lieutenant will lay a wreath on behalf of His Majesty, The King, followed by Cllr Martin Love on behalf of the City and district, and chief executive officer Ryan Sparks on behalf of Bradford City AFC. He will be assisted by Bradford City AFC club chaplain, Pastor Oliver Evans, while a blessing will be given by the Right Reverend Toby Howarth, Bishop of Bradford. The Act of Commemoration will begin with 'Abide with Me' and 'You'll Never Walk Alone', as the City Hall clock bells ring, with the service to be conducted by the Dean of Bradford, The Very Reverend Andy Bowerman. Family of the late Professor David Sharpe OBE, founder of the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit, will also be in attendance, following his passing last month. The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Cllr Martin Love, will host a Civic Party from Lincoln who will also attend the service together, with Mark Hughes and City’s first-team players and staff in attendance alongside representatives from Lincoln City. Loyalty Scheme Frequently Asked Questionsīeginning at 11.00am, attendees will include relatives and friends of the 56 people who lost their lives and were affected in 1985, as well as club and council officials and members of the public.Direct Debit Frequently Asked Questions.Responding to the verdict, WYP Assistant Chief Constable Russ Foster said: ∽espite the passage of time, the terrible events of will never be forgotten by those who lost someone or were injured themselves, or by the wider community of Bradford. However, the IPCC found the force did not delay calling for fire or ambulance support, and that the emergency services did not collaborate to forge call logs. WYP accepted at the time that there was no evacuation plan, that officers had not been trained in effective evacuation and that issues with the radios sometimes made communication with the control room impossible. He also alleged that statements taken after the fire were altered to mask police failings. In particular, Mr Fletcher criticised the forces actions in ordering the evacuation of a block of seating, where most of the victims died, and claimed WYP took too long to call ambulance and fire support. The IPCC responded that the officers may have been unaware of these incidents. Mr Fletcher linked the blaze to a string of other serious fires at properties owned by then club chairman Stafford Heginbotham, adding that the force did not investigate the possibility that the Bradford City incident was arson. However, in a book titled 56: The Story of the Bradford Fire, Mr Fletcher criticised WYPs initial investigation as being woefully inadequate. The inquiry found that Bradford City had been warned about the risk caused by discarded litter, adding that the ground had been condemned as unsafe. The IPCC has since recommended that WYP make more of its records on the initial investigation into the fire available to the public.Ī previous inquiry determined that the fire started after a lit cigarette was dropped into piles of rubbish that had built up beneath the mostly-wooden stadiums seats. Significant learning was rightly identified at the time of the disaster, and formed part of the evaluation towards the modern day approach to policing large events. It is possible, with hindsight, to identify things that the police could have done differently, but I do not consider that there is an indication that any individual officer may have breached the professional standards applicable at the time. The IPCCs role in relation to such tragic events is to examine whether there is evidence to suggest the actions of individual police officers potentially amounted to misconduct, criminality, performance issues, or whether there are any organisational lessons to be learnt, she said. IPCC Deputy Chair Sarah Green described the disaster as a horrific tragedy and said her decision was not taken lightly. It also denied that there was any evidence of a cover-up in the fires aftermath. However, the IPCC announced on Thursday (January 26) that while there were issues with the forces actions during the incident, none related to misconduct and there will be no investigation. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has found no evidence the officers who responded to the 1985 Bradford City fire disaster committed misconduct.įifty-six people died and hundreds more were injured when Bradford City FCs Valley Parade stadium caught ablaze on May 11, 1985.įollowing calls for a fresh inquiry in 2015 by survivor Martin Fletcher, who lost four family members in the tragedy, West Yorkshire Police (WYP) referred itself for assessment.
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