Police chief blamed 'drunken Liverpool fans' for Hillsborough disaster

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was told that a senior Merseyside Police officer blamed "drunken Liverpool fans" for the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster, according to leaked government papers.

The documents show that four days after the tragedy, a member of Mrs Thatcher's No 10 policy unit met senior Merseyside officers who told her large numbers of Liverpool fans turning up without tickets had been a "key factor" in what happened.