SRA launches investigation into conduct of Hillsborough lawyers

The SRA has announced an investigation into the role and conduct of solicitors involved in the legal proceedings following the Hillsborough disaster on 15 April 1989, in which 96 football fans were crushed to death. The move comes after the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel's report into the tragedy and its aftermath last week, which established that senior figures in the South Yorkshire police force and ambulance service concealed their clear culpability for the deaths by doctoring hundreds of statements, simultaneously seeking to falsely shift blame onto football fans.

Though the SRA has not yet received any formal complaints regarding the conduct of solicitors during the proceedings which followed the disaster, the Hillsborough Independent Panel has identified serious concerns which merit investigation. The report identifies former Hammond Suddards partner Peter Metcalf as the solicitor who recommended that South Yorkshire Police alter over 100 statements made by police officers in the disaster's aftermath. The report also singles out Douglas Fraser, a partner at regional firm Silverman Livermore and Liverpool's current deputy coroner, who criticised the outcry of the victims' families (whom he was representing) as a desire for "15 minutes of fame".

Samantha Barrass, the SRA's executive director, said: "We have considered the material in the public domain, including the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report, and have decided to begin an investigation. The issues arising from the report impact on the public's confidence in the legal profession and we will undertake a thorough investigation of those issues. "The first step is to begin a detailed review of all relevant evidence arising from the report and from the various proceedings."