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LONDON — A retired British police commander was not guilty of manslaughter, a jury decided on Thursday, 30 years after a crowd crush at a soccer match that killed 96 people, the worst disaster in modern British sports history.
David Duckenfield, 75, a former South Yorkshire police chief superintendent, faced charges of “gross negligence manslaughter” that could have sent him to prison for life.
The tragedy was initially blamed on the behavior of the fans, but later investigations showed that it resulted from the mistakes of officials who were responsible for controlling the flow of fans into the stadium.