Hillsborough: Yourkshire Police pocketed cash found among victims

Cash found among lost property recovered after the Hillsborough disaster was banked by South Yorkshire Police, a memo has revealed.

Relatives of victims of the disaster, which left 96 Liverpool fans dead, said it was "beyond belief" that cops had kept £14.53 in cash that was gathered from the Sheffield football ground in April 1989.

According to a document unearthed by the Hillsborough Independent Panel, the money was among a range of unclaimed property left in the stadium, and was banked by South Yorkshire Police's finance department.

The force said this was done in accordance with procedures in place at the time.

But the revelation has sparked outrage among Hillsborough campaigners, who say the money should have been donated to the victims' fund.

Sheila Coleman, from the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, told the Independent: "That the force responsible for the deaths of 96 people kept some of the money found at Hillsborough is beyond belief.

"The fact that they decided to keep it, and not even consider donating it to the disaster fund, speaks volumes as to the mind-set of the South Yorkshire Police and their contempt for Liverpool football fans and their friends and families."

A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said today that the memo dated January 16, 1992, lists property that was recovered following the disaster.

It indicated that inquiries had been made to try and establish who owned the items, which included clothing, but added: "The memorandum also notes that cash totalling £14.53 was part of this inventory and recommended that, in accordance with the policy operating at that time, the cash was banked by the Finance Department.

"Effectively, any unclaimed monies should have been placed into the Police Property Act Fund maintained by the then Police Authority which would then have been available for payment towards such charitable purposes as the Authority might determine.

"South Yorkshire Police are unable to comment on how these particular monies may have been dealt with, as financial records from that time do not exist. Such prime financial documents are required by law to be retained for six years, which has been surpassed in this instance.

"Whilst there is no reason whatsoever to believe that the proper processes were not followed in this instance, any further investigation of the circumstances in which this sum was recovered and applied would fall to be addressed, if at all, by the IPCC as part of its ongoing investigation."

The IPCC is looking at the wider issues of South Yorkshire Police's response to the Hillsborough disaster.

Last month it emerged police chiefs had asked for ­handouts from a charity fund intended for grieving families of the Hillsborough victims.

Senior cops wanted money from the £12 million Hillsborough Disaster Fund to send officers on holiday and spruce up kitchens and gyms in police stations around South Yorkshire.