Hillsborough trial: Police solicitor 'may have made errors'

A solicitor accused of altering police statements after the Hillsborough disaster admitted he "may have made errors" but "complied with his duty", a court has heard.

Peter Metcalf is on trial alongside two retired police officers accused of perverting the course of justice.

He previously said any mistakes were not "motivated to mislead or misinform", a jury heard.

The 1989 terrace crush at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium led to 96 deaths.

Mr Metcalf, 71, of Ilkley, retired Ch Supt Donald Denton, 83, of Sheffield, retired Det Ch Insp Alan Foster, 74, of Harrogate, each deny two counts of perverting the course of justice.

The trial, held at a Nightingale Court in Salford, is about the aftermath of the disaster, which unfolded during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

The jury has previously heard police accounts were changed to "mask errors" and remove references such as officers acting "like headless chickens" ahead of a public inquiry.

The jury heard an extract from a statement Mr Metcalf gave in February 2015, in which he said he reviewed over 400 statements following the disaster.

He said it required making a "large number of judgement calls under extreme time pressures" for the inquiry which opened one month after the disaster.

The former South Yorkshire Police solicitor said in the statement: "I accept during that process I may have made errors in judgement in a small number of cases."

But he said any mistakes were "neither deliberate ... nor motivated by the desire to mislead or misinform, nor consciously influenced by the views or wishes of others".

The court heard that, in May 1989, Mr Metcalf had written the objective to be "pursued at the inquiry" was presenting the force in the "best possible light, consistent with the facts".

The jury then heard how, in a statement Mr Metcalf made on 12 May 2015, he said he owed a duty to act in the best interests of his client.

But he also owed a duty as a solicitor not to mislead or misinform a court or public inquiry, the statement said.

He said he "did comply with that duty throughout the witness statement review process".

Judge Mr Justice William Davis earlier discharged a juror from the trial after she was taken to hospital. He said the trial would continue with 11 jury members.

Mr Denton was not in court for Tuesday's hearing but the judge told jurors his absence does not "impinge on his effective participation" in the case.

The trial continues.

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