Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield will not be called to give evidence in his trial for the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans, the jury at Preston Crown Court has been told.
Benjamin Myers QC, defending Duckenfield, 74, told the court the retired chief superintendent, who sat in the court wearing a dark grey suit and a purple tie alongside members of his legal team, would not be called to give evidence.
The defence case concluded one hour and 14 minutes after it began at his trial at Preston Crown Court – which is now in its ninth week.
Myers QC instead revealed read statements from Bernard Murray, who was Duckenfield’s deputy and adviser on the day of the disaster at Sheffield and is now deceased.
The statement read out before the jury was made by Murray on May 2 1989. He told how he was one of Duckenfield’s advisers and deputy and was with him in the match command control centre on the day.
Murray’s statement said the policing plan for the match was the same as the one used in 1988, when the same teams met at the venue.
The statement described how Murray was asked to reduce officer manpower by 10% compared to 1988. The cuts came in the weeks leading up to the 1989 FA Cup semi-final in which 96 people died.
Murray’s statement described how there was a large crowd outside the Leppings Lane turnstile but he was convinced they would be able to get in before kick off.
He said that around this time, Duckenfield asked him about the reasons for delaying kick-off and he explained them.
They agreed kick off would only be delayed if there was an “identifiable problem” such as congestion on the motorway approach to the city or bad weather – not simply if people arrived late at the ground.
Murray’s statement described how officers became exasperated at the poor communications as the radios were not working properly and at 2:45pm, the first request came in to open the gates to relieve crush pressure at the turnstiles.
As more requests came in, Murray’s statement said: “I turned around to Chief Superintendent Duckenfield and said: ’Mr Duckenfield, are you going to open the gates? He replied: ‘Open the gates’”
The court also heard that Murray told the Taylor Inquiry into the disaster in 1989 that he “never considered” where fans would go once they were allowed into the stadium through exit gates and did not appreciate they would go down the tunnel leading directly to the central pens of the terrace.
The court also heard that Graham Mackrell, former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary, would also not be called to give evidence as part of his defence case.
Earlier the jury was told it would be directed to return a not guilty verdict for one of the two charges he faced.
Mackrell, 69, who was the club’s safety officer at the time of the disaster, had been charged with contravening a term or condition of the safety certificate by failing to agree the methods of admission to be used for the west and north-west terraces ahead of the match.
However, Richard Matthews QC prosecuting said: “The Crown, at the close of its case, accept there is insufficient evidence upon which Mr Mackrell can be convicted upon count two.”
He remains on trial charged with failing to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The jury heard eight character references for Mackrell, including statements from former England caretaker boss Howard Wilkinson and Roy Hattersley, now Baron Hattersley, the Sheffield-born former Labour MP and now life peer.
Duckenfield denies unlawfully killing 95 supporters who died following the crush in the central pens of the Leppings Lane terrace at the match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
Under the law at the time, there can be no prosecution for the 96th victim, Tony Bland, as he died more than a year and a day after the disaster.
CORRECTION: This article was changed to correct an editing error.