Local resident wants to stop sales of the S*n newspaper locally after she saw it for sale in Formby

Formby resident, Lucy O’Brien saw the S*n newspaper for sale in the Spar shop on Green Lane in Formby and was disgusted. Lucy said: “I feel disgusted as I have family members who attended Hillsborough and still suffer the effects of that tragedy. I was really shocked to see it in the shop, I’m sure most people would be.”

“I’m going to ensure the S*n is not sold in Formby and have sent an email to their head office explaining if it’s not discontinued I will be making a petition and protesting. I’m sure hopefully we can make Formby a S*n free zone as it isn’t sold in Liverpool.”

“I am also just curious as to what other residents think of the paper being sold in the local area?”

Formby Bubble spoke to the Spar shop and they said the paper had been for sale in their shop for at least the last 7 years and it was not down to them at all, it was the responsibility and decision of their head office in Penwortham.

The S*n newspaper has suffered enmity directed at the paper by the people of Liverpool after Hillsborough.

The Hillsborough disaster took place on April 15, 1989, during an FA Cup semi-final tie between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. During the match, a fatal crush left 97 dead and 766 injured, and is to date the worst stadium-related disaster in British sport history.

The boycott of The Sun in Merseyside began after the newspaper published an article on 19 April 1989, which was titled ‘The Truth’.

The article made false and damaging claims about the behaviour of supporters during and after the disaster, which claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool fans and left hundreds injured.

For decades since then, Liverpool fans – and those who live in the city, or are affiliated with either – have boycotted the Sun, with newsagents refusing to sell the newspaper and others declining to even say its name in full, instead referring to it as "The S*n" or "The Scum".

In one of the worst excesses of the reign of the then editor, Kelvin MacKenzie - under the banner headline "The Truth" - the Sun ran a front-page story quoting unnamed police sources who claimed that some fans had urinated on the dead, pickpocketed bodies and beaten up a police officer giving the kiss of life.

It was down to weak stadium infrastructure, negligence by South Yorkshire Police in the way of poor officiating by police officials at the match and severe overcrowding in two central pens which amounted to the deaths of 97 (94 on the day) Liverpool fans in the Leppings Lane stand at Hillsborough Stadium.

Police were unable to streamline the flow of Liverpool fans pouring into the Leppings Lane stand before the game, with match commander David Duckenfield deciding to open one of the exit gates with a view to moderate the heavy surge of supporters. When he ordered the gate to be open, however, far too many supporters were let into the stand, causing for a disastrous human crush.

Duckenfield was found not guilty of causing gross negligence manslaughter in November 2019 but, an inquest in 2016 found the deaths were unlawful and breached his duty of care to those who died.

Following the catastrophic events at the stadium, the police wrongly attributed all blame surrounding the human crush to the Liverpool fans in attendance, accusing them of being drunken hooligans.

The Sun, then, in turn, published a front-page piece about the incident titled "The Truth" four days after the incident, in which they also accused the Liverpool fans of ultimately causing the deaths of 96 supporters due to their actions on the pitch.

Three sub-headings followed the controversial headline, consisting of: "some fans picked pockets of victims", "some fans urinated on the brave cops" and "some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life".

The newspaper stated that information of Liverpool fans' supposed behaviour was fed to them by police inspector Gordon Sykes, in which he stated that Liverpool fans had pickpocketed the dead – in addition to other accusations by unnamed police officers as well as Conservative MP Irvine Patnick.

The Sun's story then went on to state that "drunken Liverpool fans viciously attacked rescue workers as they tried to revive victims" and "police officers, firemen and ambulance crew were punched, kicked and urinated upon".

The Sun's media coverage of the disaster led for a large majority in the city of Liverpool to boycott the newspaper, and sales dipped following 1989 and have not recovered since.

It is boycotted not just by Liverpool fans, but Everton supporters as well, and those who generally have an affiliation to the city and football club.

Campaign groups such as Total Eclipse of The S*n group have advocated for the total boycott of the newspaper within the city.

The 1990 Taylor Report concluded that all accusations of drunkenness and violent behaviour from Liverpool fans were unfounded, stating that most fans were: "not drunk, nor even the worse for drink".

Liverpool FC banned journalists from The Sun from entering Anfield for press coverage in 2017, denying them access to matches and press conferences. Everton followed a few months later with Goodison Park.

Following the ban Liverpool placed on Sun journalists entering Anfield, Total Eclipse of The S*n group tweeted: "Further to conversations with LFC directors we are happy to inform you that Sun journalists will no longer enjoy access to club premises."

In 2005, 15 years after the disaster, The Sun published the following official statement: "Our carelessness and thoughtlessness following that blackest of days made the grief of their families and friends even harder to bear.”

"We long ago apologised publicly to the victims' families, friends and to the city of Liverpool for our awful error. We gladly say sorry again today: fully, openly, honestly and without reservation."

Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of the Sun during the Hillsborough coverage, apologised in 1993 for his actions, but ultimately put the blame on the misleading information he received from the Tory MP: "I regret Hillsborough. It was a fundamental mistake.”

"The mistake was I believed what an MP said. It was a Tory MP. If he had not said it and the chief superintendent had not agreed with it, we would not have gone with it."

However in 2006, he went back on his apology, being quoted at a private business lunch that he had only apologised because newspaper owner Rupert Murdoch had made him: "I was not sorry then and I'm not sorry now."

In 2012, though, following the publication of a report that absolved Liverpool fans of all blame regarding the tragedy, MacKenzie stated: "Today I offer my profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool for that headline. I too was totally misled.”

"It has taken more than two decades, 400,000 documents and a two-year inquiry to discover to my horror that it would have been far more accurate had I written the headline “The Lies” rather than “The Truth”. I published in good faith and I am sorry that it was so wrong."

Liverpool fans have long since refused to accept the apologies made by the paper and former editor.

The Financial Times reported in 2019 that Merseyside sales of the S*n were estimated to have dropped from 55,000 per day to 12,000 per day, an 80% decrease. Chris Horrie estimated in 2014 that the boycott had cost The Sun's owners £15 million per month, in 1989 terms, since the disaster.

Anne Williams, a mother of three from Formby, always refused to believe her son Kevin, 15, died as a result of an accident. Anne, who worked in a newsagent, became a key figure in the campaign for fresh inquests into the Hillsborough disaster after the initial verdict of accidental death. Anne sadly died of cancer on 18 April 2013. In December 2013, in honour of Anne’s long campaign for justice for her son Kevin and all the victims of Hillsborough, she was posthumously awarded the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Awards. Alan Hanson, who had been playing for Liverpool on the day of the tragedy, presented the award to Anne's brother Danny, her son Michael and daughter Sara. She received a standing ovation from the audience.

Do you think shops should continue the ban? Would you sign the petition if there was one to ban the paper from local shops?