It was on April 15, 1989, at a semi-final of the FA Cup between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, that Liverpool supporters were crushed to death by an overcrowded stand booth.
Large numbers of supporters were crowded outside the Liverpool supporters' stands at the stadium just before kickoff, when Police Chief David Duckenfield decided to open another entry. The stand was surrounded by the skylights that the growing crowd were pushing against.
In court, the prosecutor's office described, among other things, how police under Duckenfield's command at an initial stage had failed to control the crowd outside the stadium and how it took a long time for the officer to realize the risks. Duckenfield argued that the stadium in the starting position had major security flaws and the jury ultimately found him to be innocent, British media reports.
Following the disaster, authorities and British media criticized the supporter group and its behavior. Only in 2016, in an independent report, was it determined that it was the police's mistake that led to the disaster. The following year, formal charges were filed against David Duckenfield.
The trial against him had to be rescheduled, as the jury could not agree on an outcome at negotiations earlier this spring.