Hillsborough criminal probes due at year-end

Two criminal investigations into the Hillsborough disaster and its aftermath could finish by the end of the year.

A police probe is looking at the lead-up to the tragedy and the day of the match itself, and a separate inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission — the biggest in its history — is investigating the alleged cover-up afterwards.

Hundreds of investigators have worked on both inquiries, facing the challenge of hunting for decades-old evidence, some of which was contained on 1980s floppy discs or in water-stained notebooks stashed in garden sheds.