david duckenfield admitted calling for police dogs instead of ambulances as fans were being crushed to death  the police chief on duty during the hillsborough disaster has admitted calling for police dogs instead of ambulances as fans were being crushed to death but david duckenfield denied his mindset was focused on hooliganism rather than safety at the inquest into the deaths of 96 liverpool fans during the fa cup semi final in april 1989 the retired officer,  70, has already made a series of admissions about 'mistakes' he made, confessed that he lied in the aftermath and apologised 'unreservedly' to fans' families he said he initially thought the problem was crowd disorder and only realised it was a 'medical emergency at 304pm'   12 minutes after the crush started on the terrace but at that time transcripts of tape recordings made in the police control box where the match commander was stationed showed a subordinate officer calling for police dogs rajiv menon qc, representing families of the victims, said: 'you must have asked him to do this it's a medical emergency can you explain that? why on earth do you need dogs at the stadium?' mr duckenfield said he had 'no idea' other than he wanted to create a 'secure area' for the rescue operation mr menon asked: 'so dogs requested, ambulances yet to be requested correct?' the witness replied: 'it would appear so' at 306pm mr duckenfield called for operational support, a request for all available officers in the force area to go to the stadium mr menon asked: 'why more manpower?', to which duckenfield replied: 'to help the rescue' the qc representing the families said responded: 'what rescue? you have yet to call for ambulances or fire crews' the inquest heard that a request for a fleet of ambulances to attend hillsborough was made around two minutes and 40 seconds after the call for back up from dog handlers on the day of the disaster, police became overwhelmed by fans at the turnstiles as kick off approached and mr duckenfield gave the order at 252pm to open gates to let them in around 2,000 fans poured in through gate c, many heading straight for a tunnel in front of them but mr duckenfield, as match commander, had not ordered this to be closed, which was a 'blunder of the first magnitude', the inquest jury heard the tunnel led directly to the already full central pens on the leppings lane terrace some 96 liverpool fans were killed in the crush on the overcrowded leppings lane terrace  around 2,000 fans poured in through gate c (pictured), many heading straight for a tunnel in front of them, which had not been closed off by police  ninety six liverpool fans died in the ensuing crush minutes later on the terraces of sheffield wednesday's hillsborough ground as the fa cup semi final against nottingham forest kicked off mr menon said police records did not record duckenfield declaring a major incident, which would have triggered a disaster rescue plan by emergency services mr duckenfield insisted he had done so and there was an 'omission' in the records jurors were also told that an officer at the scene of the disaster made a call at 313pm for fire crews equipped with cutting gear to attend the scene mr menon pointed out to mr duckenfield that the request for fire service assistance came up to eight minutes after the semi final was halted mr duckenfield agreed that the eight minutes represented a 'serious amount of time' lost in the effort to save lives but said he was making decisions in a 'very critical' situation during the closing minutes of his questioning of the retired officer, mr menon asked him if he felt it necessary to be present on the pitch mr duckenfield replied: 'not at all the incident commander remains in the control room because if i am not in the control room i can't make decisions' the inquest heard that a request for a fleet of ambulances to attend hillsborough was made around two minutes and 40 seconds after the call for back up from dog handlers  accusing mr duckenfield of showing little, if any, organisation or control while in the control box, mr menon asked the witness: 'your leadership and co ordination and emergency response was woefully inadequate from start to finish?' mr duckenfield answered: 'i disagree, sir' rejecting claims that he was involved in 'building' south yorkshire police's case that drunken fans caused the disaster, the former policeman said: 'after the disaster i was marginalised and i took no part in anything like that at all' mr menon then asserted: 'your mistake (in failing to foresee where fans would go or close the tunnel) was the most terrifyingly bad mistake that fell woefully below the standard to be expected of a reasonably competent match commander, wasn't it?' mr duckenfield responded: 'sir, i have made my admissions, i take it no further' mr menon continued: 'it was gross negligence and ultimately it caused the disaster and the deaths of 96 liverpool fans, didn't it?' mr duckenfield answered: 'no, sir my view is it was an oversight, a mistake' at an earlier hearing he told the jury he was a freemason at the time of the accident, but said he hoped that was not a factor in his promotion to the position of chief superintendent he denied taking part in a 'cover up' designed to divert blame from the police by ascribing the disaster to liverpool fans' bad behaviour the former officer also admitted he was 'possibly in denial' over his misleading statement that a gate had been forced open by fans, leading to a deadly crush on the terraces of the sheffield stadium sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article
70 the day 1989 david duckenfield liverpool
david duckenfield, 70, was in charge of the stadium on the day of disaster  former police chief admitted calling for police dogs instead of ambulances  he confessed that he made 'mistakes' and lied in aftermath of disaster  but he denied his mindset was focused on hooliganism rather than safety  he made comments  at inquest into deaths of 96 liverpool fans in 1989 