Hillsborough Survivor Alleges Police Surveillance

A new IOPC investigation into the Hillsborough tragedy has found evidence that police officers stalked a victim’s family member and that 12 former officers would have faced serious misconduct charges.

sarah

Dec 6, 2025 - 14:52

Hillsborough Survivor Alleges Police Surveillance

A years-long investigation into police conduct surrounding the Hillsborough tragedy found evidence that police officers stalked a family member of the victim.

As part of its work, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigated 27 complaints from 25 people related to the tragic 1989 incident, alleging police surveillance.

The report, released on Tuesday, found that 12 police officers would have faced serious wrongdoing charges if they were still employed.

The result was that South Yorkshire Police (SYP) failed to plan properly before the incident at the stadium, which left 97 people dead, and then tried to blame supporters in the years that followed.

Those officers included SYP Chief Constable Peter Wright and Match Commander Chief Inspector David Duckenfield.

Over the past few years, there have been repeated allegations that Hillsborough families and campaigners were under police surveillance, with many reporting strange clicking noises during phone calls.

Of the 25 complainants, all believed their phone calls were monitored, while 16 suspected they were being monitored in other ways, such as being stalked.

The report stated that many complaints were not clear enough to be properly investigated, but one complaint was found to be substantiated.

It said: "The IOPC investigated in detail a specific allegation in which police officers apparently stalked a family member for approximately a week, and on at least one occasion, spoke directly to the officers.

"This complaint was upheld."

The report did not identify the force involved.

Another upheld complaint described West Midlands Police (WMP) officers who behaved in an "unnecessarily intimidating" manner when sent to collect documents from a family member.

WMP was instructed to investigate the SYP's actions surrounding the Hillsborough disaster, but the IOPC found it was "biased" against supporters and in favor of its partner force.

The IOPC said it had written to all relevant police forces for any evidence of telephone surveillance, but found no records.

It also said this could mean that no police phone surveillance had taken place, or that records had been destroyed in accordance with record retention rules. were made.

As per longstanding policy, the Home Office will not confirm or deny that anyone has experienced telephone interception by the police.

However, the IOPC referred the families to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which the report states has the authority to examine government records on phone tapping.

The IOPC also said it investigated several burglaries in the Merseyside area, including two at Hillsborough Centre and two at a shop owned by the Hillsborough Justice Campaign (HJC).

Two other incidents occurred at the home of an HJC member.

The watchdog said it received five complaints that suggested police involvement, in part because documents were stolen that would only contain "essential information" for the police.

The IOPC said it had contacted Merseyside Police for records of their response to those burglaries and initially received a "too slow" response, which senior officials said was "unreasonable." The matter had to be escalated to the officers.

A spokesperson for the force said, "We acknowledge the IOPC's findings regarding how this matter was handled and how quickly it was resolved after contacting the Head of the Professional Standards Department."

"Due to the considerable time elapsed before the request, a thorough search of the force's systems was required, and all information was provided to the IOPC as it was important to share it."

When the records were provided, the IOPC said there were concerns about how the theft report was recorded, with two incidents being combined into one log.

No information about the thefts at the campaigner's home was recorded.

Merseyside Police said: "The force recognized the procedures in place at the time and has worked to ensure officers follow those procedures."

However, the IOPC stated that there was no evidence of police involvement in the thefts, and noted that a witness report had identified "young men" as responsible.

Full report It found that there were "fundamental failures" by the police and "concerted attempts" to blame the fans.

The law was changed in 2017 so that former officers can still be prosecuted for wrongdoing, but this does not apply retrospectively.

At a press conference following the report's release, Charlotte Hennessy, whose father, James, was killed at Hillsborough, said: "We will never know the full extent of the South Yorkshire Police Force's deception, but there is no hiding place, no cover, and no way to conceal the fact that they failed in their duty and then tried to blame the victims."