BASEL, SWITZERLAND – MAY 18: A Liverpool supporter holds a scarf of ‘Justice’ to commemorate the victims of Hillsborough disaster prior to the UEFA Europa League Final match between Liverpool and Sevilla at St. Jakob-Park on May 18, 2016 in Basel, Switzerland. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Decades later, justice is being served to those deemed responsible for the Hillsborough disaster of 1989. Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield, former chief constable Sir Norman Bettison, and four others have been charged with their involvement in poor crowd control at a 1989 FA Cup semifinal match.

The Crown Prosecution Service in England came to the long-awaited ruling on Wednesday after a careful review of documents related to the alleged negligence, misconduct in public office, health and safety laws and sports grounds management, among others.

“Following thorough investigations and careful review of the evidence in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, I have decided that there is sufficient evidence to charge six individuals with criminal offences,” Sue Hemming, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said in a statement.

“I have found that there is sufficient evidence to charge former Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who was the Match Commander on the day of the disaster, with the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 men, women and children. We will allege that David Duckenfield’s failures to discharge his personal responsibility were extraordinarily bad and contributed substantially to the deaths of each of those 96 people who so tragically and unnecessarily lost their lives.”

The 96th casualty in the tragic incident was Anthony Bland, who died four years after the incident.

“We are unable to charge the manslaughter of Anthony Bland, the 96th casualty, as he died almost four years later,” Hemming explained. “The law as it applied then provided that no person could be guilty of homicide where the death occurred more than a year and a day later than the date when the injuries were caused.”

Hemmings also explained there was insufficient evidence to hold the Football Association accountable to this degree due to a lack of evidence to support a charge.

“While I considered that it was a ‘responsible person’ for the purposes of the Safety of Sports Grounds Act, there was insufficient evidence to establish that any breach of the safety certificate could be placed within the responsibility of that organisation, and thereby raise a burden on it as a defendant to establish a due diligence. Equally, for the purposes of the Health and Safety at Work Act, the evidence did not establish that, in the conduct of its undertaking, the FA contributed to a material risk to safety. As a result, in each instance, there was not a realistic prospect of a conviction against them.”

This has been a long time coming for the families of those 96 victims.

[ESPN]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.