Oliver Popplewell
Encyclopedia
The Honourable
Sir Oliver Bury Popplewell (born 15 August 1927 in Northwood, Middlesex) is a former British
judge
. He chaired
the inquiry into the Bradford City stadium fire, presided over the libel case brought by Jonathan Aitken
MP
against The Guardian
newspaper
which eventually led to Aitkin's imprisonment
for perjury
, and was widely reported for asking "What is Linford
's lunchbox
?" during a case over which he was presiding, brought by Linford Christie. He played first-class cricket
for Cambridge University
and was president of the MCC
from 1994 until 1996. He wrote a book about his legal career.
. A widower, Sir Oliver remarried fellow-barrister
Dame
Elizabeth Gloster
in March 2008. He is the father of four sons, the eldest of whom is the Cambridge University and Somerset
cricketer, Nigel Popplewell
,, and another of whom (Andrew) is also a High Court Judge. He has 13 grandchildren amongst whom is the actress Anna Popplewell
.
as a scholar, where he played cricket with Peter May
and future politician Jim Prior
, and after spending two years of National Service
in the Royal Navy
, he went to Queens' College, Cambridge
as an exhibitioner
. He was awarded a B.A.
degree
in 1950 and an LL.B.
in 1951.
In 2003, Popplewell became one of the oldest mature students at the University of Oxford
when he started reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Harris Manchester College
.
-batsman, playing 56 innings
in 41 matches, scoring 881 runs
for an average
of 20.46 including two half-centuries. He played for Cambridge University
from 1949 until 1951 at the time when Rev DS Sheppard
was playing for the University, for MCC in 1953, and for the Free Foresters
from 1952 until 1960. His only bowling
stint was three balls for MCC against Cambridge University in 1953. He was president of the MCC from 1994 to 1996.
in 1951. He became a Queen's Counsel
in 1969. After serving as Recorder
of Burton upon Trent
and Deputy Chairman of Oxfordshire
Quarter Sessions
, he was appointed as Recorder of the Crown Court
in 1971. He was a High Court
judge from 1983 until 2003. During this time, he chaired the Bradford Inquiry into Crowd Control and Safety at Sports Grounds in 1985. He became president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal
and vice chairman of the Parole Board
in 1986, and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
in 1996.
at his trial for credit card
fraud. Popplewell and his wife had long been friends of Fry's parents. Stephen Fry writes about the event in his autobiography Moab Is My Washpot
.
Following the fire at Valley Parade
, the Bradford City
stadium
, on 11 May 1985, Popplewell was chosen to chair an inquiry held under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975. Following this inquiry, he was chosen to chair a Committee of Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds. In 1999, he donated the papers of the inquiry to the University of Bradford
.
He presided over the libel case brought by Jonathan Aitken
against The Guardian
and Granada Television
.
While presiding over the High Court case brought by the athlete Linford Christie
against former criminal John McVicar
, the editor of Spike magazine, he was widely reported as asking, "What is Linford's lunchbox?". He later claimed that this was intended as a joke. The question was in the tradition of British jurisprudence, in which the judge asks seemingly inane questions relevant to the facts of the case on the assumption that the jury
, which cannot ask questions, is ignorant of them. Following this case, the name "Mr Justice Cocklecarrot" was revived by Private Eye
magazine
(it was originally the name of a character in the Beachcomber
column in the Daily Express
) which became the magazine's generic name for unworldly and out-of-touch judges, though Popplewell asserts that this description did not apply to him.
He upheld Reynold's privilege, established in the House of Lords
in Reynolds v Times Newspapers
in 1999, in an action against the Yorkshire Post
for reporting that a local karate
company was selling "rip-off" lessons.
Since he retired, Popplewell has spoken up for the right of judges to impose the sentences
they see fit. He had an argument with Home Secretary
David Blunkett
who was seeking to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for some serious crime
s.
He made the comments in a letter to The Times following the Commons debate on 17th October 2011 calling for all Cabinet papers on Hillsborough to be released.
He said: "The citizens of Bradford behaved with quiet dignity and great courage. They did not harbour conspiracy theories. They did not seek endless further inquiries"
His letter was published by the Times sister paper, The Sun, which is boycotted on Merseyside, the day after it was revealed to Parliament that senior policemen had changed the evidence of junior policemen whose evidence contradicted the official version given to the press by police spokesmen. David Cameron , the Prime Minister , came as close as any politician to apologize for the concerted effort by the police to blame the supporters for the disaster , promising full disclosure of evidence within the coming months.
Popplewell was widely criticised for his comments , including a rebuke from a survivor of the Bradford stadium disaster .
The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Sir Oliver Bury Popplewell (born 15 August 1927 in Northwood, Middlesex) is a former British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
. He chaired
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
the inquiry into the Bradford City stadium fire, presided over the libel case brought by Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and British government minister. He was convicted of perjury in 1999 and received an 18-month prison sentence, of which he served seven months...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
against The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
which eventually led to Aitkin's imprisonment
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
for perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
, and was widely reported for asking "What is Linford
Linford Christie
Linford Cicero Christie OBE is a former sprinter from the United Kingdom. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games...
's lunchbox
Lunch box
The lunch box, also referred to as a lunch pail or lunch kit, is used to store food to be taken to work or school. The concept of a food container has existed for a long time, but it wasn't until people began using tobacco tins to haul meals in the early 20th century, followed by the use of...
?" during a case over which he was presiding, brought by Linford Christie. He played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
and was president of the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
from 1994 until 1996. He wrote a book about his legal career.
Biography
Popplewell's father, aged 47 when Oliver was born, was a civil servant in the Board of TradeBoard of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
. A widower, Sir Oliver remarried fellow-barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
Dame
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
Elizabeth Gloster
Elizabeth Gloster
Dame Elizabeth Gloster, DBE , styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Gloster, is the first appointed female judge of the Commercial Court in the United Kingdom. Gloster was educated at Roedean School and Girton College, Cambridge...
in March 2008. He is the father of four sons, the eldest of whom is the Cambridge University and Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
cricketer, Nigel Popplewell
Nigel Popplewell
Nigel Francis Mark Popplewell is a former English first-class cricketer who made over 200 appearances for Somerset between 1979 and 1985. A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler, Popplewell also occasionally played as wicket-keeper.-External links:...
,, and another of whom (Andrew) is also a High Court Judge. He has 13 grandchildren amongst whom is the actress Anna Popplewell
Anna Popplewell
Anna Katherine Popplewell is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Susan Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia film series since 2005.-Early life:...
.
Education
Popplewell went to Charterhouse SchoolCharterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
as a scholar, where he played cricket with Peter May
Peter May
-External links:* * at Cricket Archive*...
and future politician Jim Prior
James Prior, Baron Prior
James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior, PC, known as "Jim Prior" , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he was a Member of Parliament from 1959 to 1987, representing the constituency of Lowestoft from 1959 to 1983 and the renamed constituency of Waveney from 1983 to 1987...
, and after spending two years of National Service
Conscription in the United Kingdom
Conscription in the United Kingdom has existed for two periods in modern times. The first was from 1916 to 1919, the second was from 1939 to 1960, with the last conscripted soldiers leaving the service in 1963...
in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, he went to Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
as an exhibitioner
Exhibition (scholarship)
-United Kingdom and Ireland:At the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge, and at Westminster School, Eton College and Winchester College, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a financial award or grant to an individual student, normally on grounds of merit. The...
. He was awarded a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in 1950 and an LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
in 1951.
In 2003, Popplewell became one of the oldest mature students at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
when he started reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Harris Manchester College
Harris Manchester College, Oxford
Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Formerly known as Manchester College, it is listed in the University Statutes as Manchester Academy and Harris College, and at University ceremonies it is called Collegium de Harris et...
.
Cricket
Popplewell was a right-handed wicket-keeperWicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
-batsman, playing 56 innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
in 41 matches, scoring 881 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
for an average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
of 20.46 including two half-centuries. He played for Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
from 1949 until 1951 at the time when Rev DS Sheppard
David Sheppard
David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool was the high-profile Bishop of Liverpool in the Church of England who played cricket for Sussex and England in his youth...
was playing for the University, for MCC in 1953, and for the Free Foresters
Free Foresters Cricket Club
Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' club, having no home ground....
from 1952 until 1960. His only bowling
Bowling (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...
stint was three balls for MCC against Cambridge University in 1953. He was president of the MCC from 1994 to 1996.
Legal career
Popplewell was called to the barCall to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
in 1951. He became a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1969. After serving as Recorder
Recorder (judge)
A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...
of Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England. Its associated adjective is "Burtonian"....
and Deputy Chairman of Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions
The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...
, he was appointed as Recorder of the Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
in 1971. He was a High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
judge from 1983 until 2003. During this time, he chaired the Bradford Inquiry into Crowd Control and Safety at Sports Grounds in 1985. He became president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal
Employment Appeal Tribunal
The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a tribunal non-departmental public body in England and Wales and Scotland, and is a superior court of record. Its primary role is to hear appeals from Employment Tribunals in England, Scotland and Wales...
and vice chairman of the Parole Board
Parole Board
A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and the United...
in 1986, and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators is a London based membership organisation for arbitrators for the promotion and facilitation of dispute resolution...
in 1996.
Cases
In 1975, he defended a then-18-year-old Stephen FryStephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
at his trial for credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
fraud. Popplewell and his wife had long been friends of Fry's parents. Stephen Fry writes about the event in his autobiography Moab Is My Washpot
Moab is My Washpot
Moab Is My Washpot is Stephen Fry’s autobiography, covering the first 20 years of his life. Reviewers described it as both humorous and painfully candid....
.
Following the fire at Valley Parade
Valley Parade
Valley Parade, also known as the Coral Windows Stadium through sponsorship rights, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1886, and was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they changed code from rugby football to association...
, the Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
, on 11 May 1985, Popplewell was chosen to chair an inquiry held under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975. Following this inquiry, he was chosen to chair a Committee of Inquiry into Crowd Safety at Sports Grounds. In 1999, he donated the papers of the inquiry to the University of Bradford
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a British university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s...
.
He presided over the libel case brought by Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and British government minister. He was convicted of perjury in 1999 and received an 18-month prison sentence, of which he served seven months...
against The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
.
While presiding over the High Court case brought by the athlete Linford Christie
Linford Christie
Linford Cicero Christie OBE is a former sprinter from the United Kingdom. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games...
against former criminal John McVicar
John McVicar
John McVicar is a British journalist and one-time convicted armed robber.-Career:In the 1960s, he was an armed robber who was tagged "Public Enemy No. 1" by Scotland Yard. He was apprehended and given a 23-year jail sentence. He escaped from prison on several occasions and after his final...
, the editor of Spike magazine, he was widely reported as asking, "What is Linford's lunchbox?". He later claimed that this was intended as a joke. The question was in the tradition of British jurisprudence, in which the judge asks seemingly inane questions relevant to the facts of the case on the assumption that the jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
, which cannot ask questions, is ignorant of them. Following this case, the name "Mr Justice Cocklecarrot" was revived by Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
(it was originally the name of a character in the Beachcomber
Beachcomber (Pen name)
Beachcomber was a nom de plume used by surrealist humorous columnists D. B. Wyndham-Lewis and, chiefly, J. B. Morton as authors of the Daily Express column "By the Way" in the period 1919-1975...
column in the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
) which became the magazine's generic name for unworldly and out-of-touch judges, though Popplewell asserts that this description did not apply to him.
He upheld Reynold's privilege, established in the House of Lords
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
in Reynolds v Times Newspapers
Reynolds v Times Newspapers
Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd is a United Kingdom legal case in the House of Lords concerning qualified privilege for publication of defamatory statements in the public interest....
in 1999, in an action against the Yorkshire Post
Yorkshire Post
The Yorkshire Post is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, a company owned by Johnston Press...
for reporting that a local karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
company was selling "rip-off" lessons.
Since he retired, Popplewell has spoken up for the right of judges to impose the sentences
Sentence (law)
In law, a sentence forms the final explicit act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. The sentence can generally involve a decree of imprisonment, a fine and/or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime...
they see fit. He had an argument with Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
David Blunkett
David Blunkett
David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
who was seeking to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for some serious crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
s.
Hillsborough Controversy
On the 19th October 2011 he sparked fury by calling on the Liverpool families involved in the Hillsborough disaster to behave more like the relatives of victims of the Bradford City stadium disaster.He made the comments in a letter to The Times following the Commons debate on 17th October 2011 calling for all Cabinet papers on Hillsborough to be released.
He said: "The citizens of Bradford behaved with quiet dignity and great courage. They did not harbour conspiracy theories. They did not seek endless further inquiries"
His letter was published by the Times sister paper, The Sun, which is boycotted on Merseyside, the day after it was revealed to Parliament that senior policemen had changed the evidence of junior policemen whose evidence contradicted the official version given to the press by police spokesmen. David Cameron , the Prime Minister , came as close as any politician to apologize for the concerted effort by the police to blame the supporters for the disaster , promising full disclosure of evidence within the coming months.
Popplewell was widely criticised for his comments , including a rebuke from a survivor of the Bradford stadium disaster .