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Cabinet Office Responds to Bid to Strip Sir Norman Bettison of Honours After IOPC Report

Families have filed a formal forfeiture request through the official process set out in the government's reply.

Overview

  • The IOPC’s investigation found 12 officers would have faced gross misconduct proceedings over failures and efforts to blame fans after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.
  • The watchdog said Norman Bettison would have faced a case focused on alleged dishonesty about his role and on misleading press statements.
  • Relatives including Margaret Aspinall, Charlotte Hennessy, Steve Kelly and Sue Roberts asked the Cabinet Office to forfeit his knighthood and Queen’s Policing Medal.
  • The Cabinet Office outlined the Honours Secretariat and Forfeiture Committee route, set no timetable, and said any recommendation would be announced in the London Gazette.
  • The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance launched a petition supporting forfeiture, Ian Byrne MP tabled an Early Day Motion, and Bettison declined to comment as charges against him were previously dropped in 2018.