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Mike Nicholson Interview: The Truth About Hillsborough.

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Frost Magazine has an exclusive interview with Mike Nicholson, the director of a new Hillsborough documentary. Mike has worked very hard on his documentary and it is definitely one to watch. Read our amazing interview to find out more.

How did the documentary come about?

I took a documentary makers course at Raindance when I first bought my video camera, and the tutor said that your first film should be about something you know a lot about, and something you are passionate about. That was it for me; it had to be about Hillsborough.


Do you think that people know the truth?

I think the people of Merseyside know the truth, and many people outside the area do as well of course. Even as the disaster was still unfolding, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who was in charge of policing Hillsborough on that awful day, set the lies in motion. He gave the order to open a perimeter exit gate that allowed thousands of supporters into the ground at once, and he also failed to cut off access to the tunnel that led to the already full central pens. Once the enormity of his decision started to dawn on him, he lied, and said that Liverpool fans had forced the gate causing an inrush.

Duckenfield later admitted to that ‘disgraceful lie’ as it was called in the Taylor Report, but it had already set the tone for many media reports, and by the time he retracted it the damage had been done. I still meet people today that believe the lies printed all those years ago. I just hope that the findings of the Independent Panel are reported widely, and in headlines, so that the wider people who only say the lies will finally see the truth.

What did you think of the Taylor report?

I personally think that the Taylor Report was very thorough, and correct in its findings. Lord Justice Taylor found that a breakdown of police control was the main cause of the disaster, and rejected claims from senior officers who appeared to be in arse-covering mode that Liverpool fans wee ticketless, drunk or aggressive. As I said before though, the general publics don’t read such reports to get their news, so its findings are largely invisible to the wider public.

What is the legacy of the Hillsborough disaster?

All seater-stadia. You can never say never, and we should always guard against complacency of course, but I can’t see how another disaster of this magnitude could happen in today’s game and that’s great.

Daughters, sisters, brothers, father’s and sons all died at Hillsborough, and all they wanted to was to enjoy the national game with their family & friends. Today’s game looks after its supporters so much better than it used to, and that has got to be a good thing.

At least three people who survived the Hillsborough have committed suicide. Do you think more could and can be done to help?

I don’t know if more could have been done. I am no expert on post-traumatic stress disorder or grief, and I wouldn’t like to say to be honest. I can say that fantastic organisations such as the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, who still to this day have a shop on the Walton Breck Road opposite the Kop, offer counseling and help for those who are struggling to come to terms with their experiences at Hillsborough.


It has been over 20 years since the disaster now. Do you think there is risk that people might forget?

The families and friends affected will never forget.

What is the aim of your documentary?

I understand that some of the big TV companies are currently working on broadcast documentaries on Hillsborough to coincide with the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report, which is due this September.

TV content tends to be guarded by rights though, and it is rarely open and freely given away online for anybody to see after it has been broadcast, and if it is, it is for a short window of time.

I want this documentary to be online forever; so future generations searching for the Hillsborough Disaster will be able to find something factual that in the main was told by those who were there. I won’t charge a penny for it, and it will be freely available to anybody with the will to learn the truth. I just want the truth to be told really.


Who did you speak to?

I have spoken to survivors, the bereaved, professional people such as firemen and nurses who were their as fans that day, and ended up working in the most horrendous of circumstances. I’ve also contacted The Hillsborough Family Support Group, the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and Hope for Hillsborough. I have also spoken to fans who were at Hillsborough for previous semi-finals, and a professor who is one of the world’s leading experts in crowd dynamics. I still have some interviews to conduct, and I hope to have at least part one ready online by the end of September.

What can be done to make sure this never happens again?

I think football learnt its lesson after Hillsborough. The stadiums in the first two divisions at least are well maintained, they are all-seater, and there are no fences to keep supporters penned in like animals.


What do you think people don’t know about the Hillsborough disaster?

The truth. The South Yorkshire Police managed that event badly, and caused the deaths of 96 men, women and children, and as I have already said they started to lie about the cause while the fans were still dead and dying on the pitch.

I think I was naive enough before Hillsborough to believe that the Police are there to protect you, and they don’t tell lies, but that innocence went away after Hillsborough forever.

There is a lot of talk now about the freedom of the press, what with the News International phone hacking scandal, but while I agree that a free press is important, that can only work if they are responsible enough to tell the truth. When The Sun printed a headline that it later described as ‘the worst mistake in our history’ they caused unbearable pain and stress to people who were still arranging funerals for those lost on the 15th April 1989. The lies and the cover-up are often referred to as the second disaster of Hillsborough, and I agree with that sentiment.

Is there a charity that people can donate to?

There are three main organisations that I know of, and they each operate for slightly different reasons. You can visit their web pages here:

The Hillsborough Family Support Group – http://www.hfsg.net

The Hillsborough Justice Campaign – http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/

Hope for Hillsborough – http://www.hopeforhillsborough.piczo.com/?cr=

When will the documentary be released, and where can people see it?

The documentary will be a three-part series, and I hope to have the first part live in September.

It will be released first at www.thehillsboroughdisasterdocumentary.com

For updates and news, please follow @HillsboroughDoc on Twitter of like the Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hillsborough-Disaster-Documentary/283632178348441

Riots Will cost Taxpayer £100 Million, Mark Duggan 'Did Not Fire at Police'.

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Mark Duggan ‘did not fire at police’

It has emerged that Mark Duggan had a blank-firing gun which had been converted to hold live ammunition

16,000 police on duty in London

England game against Netherlands at Wembley tomorrow called off

Jamie Olivier’s restaurant in Birmingham was targeted by rioters

Police Cells are now full and 44 more police officers have been injured

Three people arrested for attempted murder of police officer

Cost of cleaning up the riots could cost taxpayers £100 million

Prime Minister David Cameron has recalled Parliament for Thursday so he can make a statement

Sloane Square Tube station was among dozens that were closed last night during the rioting

Youths congregating at Piccadilly, riot police are there

People urged to stay indoors

In Clapham youths went on the rampage trashing dozens of shops and walking out stolen goods.
Residents complained that police were very slow to respond as a Debenhams store was ransacked.

This morning Clapham high street was cordoned off as a investigation and the clear-up got underway.

Rioting began in Hackney at about 4pm yesterday when hooded youths began hurling missiles at officers and setting fire to bins and cars. Masked rioters on BMX bicycles armed with batons attacked a crowded London bus during the evening rush-hour, chasing terrified commuters as they tried to escape.

Some of the thugs were as young as eight and they forced the driver to stop the double-decker by pelting it with champagne bottles stolen from a nearby Tesco. About 40 passengers ran away, some carrying their children.

Within hours similar scenes erupted in Lewisham, spreading to Peckham, Deptford and Croydon.
Hundreds of fires were started all over the capital, North London; Camden, Woolwich in the south, in West London; Ealing. People were forced to take the law into their own hands to protect themselves and their family.

In Dalston and Hackney, shopkeepers fought back against looting youths and protected their businesses. Surrounding areas were pillaged as members of the town’s large Turkish community stood up outside their homes and businesses to protect them.

Home Secretary Theresa May said this morning that there had been 450 arrests in the last two nights but she ruled out bringing in the Army and using water cannon. She told BBC Breakfast:

‘British policing has always meant and always depended on the support of local communities and that’s what we need now.’

She told Sky News the capital needed ‘robust policing’ – and claimed that police budget cutting had not had an impact on the violence.

‘Don’t let police budgets be used as an excuse for what is going on on our streets is sheer criminality and nothing else.’

Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP and former Army officer, hit out and told the Telegraph that tougher policing should be used.

He said: ‘I find it strange that we are willing to use these sort of measures against the Irish yet when Englishmen step out of line and behave in this atrocious and appalling way, we are happy to mollycoddle them.’

Met Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh seemed to contradict the Home Secretary and said using the military had not been ruled out.

‘All options were discussed last night and that means, not that we’re doing it, the people of London need to know that the Commissioner and his management board team are considering everything and working through those options as we go forward,’ he told BBC Breakfast.

Mr Kavanagh said it was ‘a shocking and appalling morning for London to wake up to’ and he was struck by the ‘sheer scale and speed with which the attacks took place across London last night’. It ‘was truly unprecedented’

He said there was a ‘changing nature’ in the make-up of the rioters, with the profile changing ‘dramatically’ last night from 14 to 17-year-olds to ‘older groups in cars doing organised looting’.

He added: ‘And there was the far more focused attempt at injuring London Ambulance staff, there to help the community, trying to injure Fire Brigade officers and, of course, police officers.’

In Birmingham, West Midlands Police said it had made about 100 arrests and confirmed that a police station in Handsworth, Birmingham, was on fire. Merseyside Police said there were a number of incidents in South Liverpool and that cars had been set on alight.

Somerset Police reported 150 rioters were in Bristol city centre, with main roads closed and a number of shops damaged.

Councilors have said it will cost £227,000 to repair Tottenham

There is a brilliant article here on how the poverty these kids have is moral, not financial.http://www.thecommentator.com/article/359/london_rioters_are_the_pampered_children_of_the_welfare_state

And the Telegraph has a brilliant article with pictures of london before and after the riot

You can help people made homeless by the London riots by donating bedding, clothes, etc to Apex House, 820 Seven Sisters Road, London N15 5PQ