Friday, September 14, 2012

Local Councillor's Support For Bettison

By a hideous twist of irony, Norman Bettison was appointed chief constable of Merseyside Police in 1998. His role in the Hillsborough cover-up was already known to some. He appeared on Roger Phillips' phone-in on BBC Radio Merseyside shortly after his appointment. At least a few callers challenged him on his record in South Yorkshire. Bettison lied through his teeth, claiming that he was merely involved in the collation of police officers' accounts; it's since come to light that his involvement extended to the alteration of the accounts.
A few members of the Merseyside Police Authority resigned their positions in protest at Bettison's appointment. One member who didn't, however, was Carol Gustafson, the then chairwoman of the authority. She is currently a Labour councillor for the Derby Ward in Bootle (http://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/moderngov/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=604 ).
To be fair, the political fall-out from the Hillsborough report is still in its infancy & it may well be that Cllr Gustafson is preparing to present her case & account for her decision to back Bettison fourteen years ago. What isn't in any doubt, however, is that she has questions to answer.    

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