THE police watchdog is considering releasing an unredacted version of its review of South Yorkshire Police’s handling of events at the Battle of Orgreave in 1984.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it was examining whether there were any remaining legal issues preventing its publication. Thousands of striking miners and police clashed at Orgreave coking plant and a redacted version of the report was published last year.
An IPCC spokeswoman said the report had been redacted as a result of legal issues, including some relating to the Hillsborough inquests, which concluded last month. She said: ‘We are now considering whether the legal issues that prompted the report being redacted still remain.
‘One key consideration is that the IPCC and Operation Resolve are conducting criminal investigations into the events at Hillsborough and its aftermath. As a result we must now carefully consider whether we can publish an unredacted version of the report at this stage without compromising the integrity of the ongoing criminal investigations.’
Operation Resolve is the continuing police inquiry into the events of the day of the Hillsborough disaster and its lead-up. South Yorkshire Police referred itself to the IPCC in 2012 over allegations of assault and misconduct relating to the events at Orgreave. However, the IPCC ruled in 2015 that the passage of time meant the allegations ‘could not be pursued’.
Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham said the report contained proof ‘that underhand tactics were used first against South Yorkshire miners before being deployed to much more deadly effect against Liverpool supporters (at Hillsborough)’. He said: ‘As I’ve always said, we won’t have the truth about Hillsborough until we have the full truth about Orgreave.’
