Justice Popplewell dismisses Valley Parade fire claim

The judge who presided over the inquiry into the 1985 fire at Bradford City’s Valley Parade stadium has dismissed suggestions it could have been started deliberately.

Mr Justice Oliver Popplewell led the official inquiry into the tragedy, where 56 fans died, which concluded that the cause was an accident, probably started by a spectator dropping a cigarette into the rubbish that had accumulated under an old timber stand.

Police have said they would consider new evidence after a book claimed the stadium blaze was one of at least nine fires at businesses owned by, or associated with, the club's then chairman Stafford Heginbotham, who died in 1995.

If there was any suggestion that any of them had been arson, you’d be quite sure the police would have investigated and, more importantly, the fire insurers.

The claims are contained in 'Fifty-Six - The Story Of The Bradford Fire', by Martin Fletcher, who was 12 at the time and escaped from the blaze but lost three generations of his family including his father and brother.

Fletcher says Heginbotham's history with fires, which he claims resulted in pay-outs totalling around £27m in today's terms, warranted further investigation.

"Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?" he asks.

However, Justice Popplewell has dismissed the notion that the fire could have been started deliberately.

He told Sky News: “If there was any suggestion that any of them had been arson, you’d be quite sure the police would have investigated and, more importantly, the fire insurers.

“Fire insurance - I did a lot of work at the bar - is very thorough and they are very suspicious and you can tell in a great number of cases whether the thing is arson or whether it’s accidental and no one suggested in this case that it was other than accidental.”

However, the former high court judge has also said that police should look at the eight other fires allegedly connected to the then club chairman to "see if there was anything sinister".

He said: "I don't think it's going to affect what we decided but I think it is important from a public point of view that the police look at the other fires and see if there was anything sinister. It is a remarkable number.

"I think it's important to satisfy people's minds that the other fires are unconnected."

Popplewell, 87, added: "No trace of anything was found at the ground of any material which might suggest it was arson.

"To me the mechanics are unbelievable - why would you do it when the ground was occupied?

"Even if they show that some of the other fires were arson then it still doesn't actually lead you to conclude that the Bradford fire was also arson.

"Nothing was mentioned to the inquiry about these other fires by the insurers, the fire officers or indeed the police."

Popplewell said the main flaw in the argument that the fire was arson was that the stand involved had no insurance value because it was due for demolition.

He said the fire was examined by experienced and thorough investigators who found nothing suspicious. And he said no question of arson was ever raised in civil legal proceedings.

Allegations

Current Bradford chairman Mark Lawn has also said that he finds it "hard to believe" that the fire was started deliberately.

He said: "I feel for the person who has written this book as he has lost his whole family in the fire, but I'm not sure you can start blaming someone who is dead without having proof. I find it hard to believe the fire was started on purpose."

A minute's silence is due to be held at every Premier League and Football League match on Saturday, April 25, to mark the forthcoming 30th anniversary.

Former sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe has also said the allegations do not justify a new inquiry into the disaster.

Sutcliffe, MP for Bradford South and deputy leader of Bradford City Council at the time of the tragedy, said he knew Mr Heginbotham "flew by the seat of his pants" in terms of the finances of the club, but remains convinced by the conclusion of the inquiry.

“The inquiry by Mr Justice Popplewell concluded that it was caused by a discarded cigarette in what was an old wooden stand and I have not heard anything to convince me that that was not the case," he said.

I think the inquiry was very thorough at the time and I don't think there needs to be another because of this.

“Stafford Heginbotham was one of those football club chairmen, of which there were many at the time, who flew by the seat of his pants. I was deputy leader of the city council at the time and he did fly by the seat of his pants when it came to paying the bill for the police and so on.

“But I think the inquiry was very thorough at the time and I don't think there needs to be another because of this. I do not believe there was any sort of cover-up and in fact the inquiry led to a lot of recommendations on stadiums that together with the Taylor report came up with the right answers for football.

“There will always be speculation but I just think it was a tragedy that cost the lives of 56 people and injured many more, and has scarred the city for many years.”