A British jury has found the police match commander during the crush that killed 96 Liverpool soccer fans at Hillsborough stadium in 1989 not guilty of manslaughter, following a retrial.
Preston Crown Court had ordered a second trial of David Duckenfield, the former chief superintendent of South Yorkshire Police, after a different jury failed to reach a verdict on manslaughter charges against him in June.
Duckenfield, 75, had pleaded not guilty to "manslaughter by gross negligence", after he was charged in connection with the crushing of fans, as they were entering the stadium in the English northern city of Sheffield.
"Today's outcome is a huge disappointment for the families, the survivors and for all of those still trying to come to terms with the disaster that unfolded at Hillsborough on April 15, 1989," Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said after Thursday's verdict.
An earlier jury found Graham Mackrell, the former secretary of Sheffield Wednesday football club - the owners of the venue - guilty of failing to ensure the safety of fans in the stadium.
Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had sought the retrial of Duckenfield for the manslaughter of "95 men, women and children".
The 96th victim died more than a year later and was not included in the prosecutors' charges.
In 2016, another jury ruled that all 96 victims were "unlawfully killed" and that "errors and omissions" by the police had contributed to the disaster.
DPA
