Hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield will face trial for up to 95 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence.
Judge Sir Peter Openshaw lifted a stay on prosecution of the former South Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent, and also ruled that criminal charges will go to trial against four further defendants, including former Chief Superintendent Donald Denton and former Detective Chief Inspector Alan Foster.
The other defendents are South Yorkshire Police solicitor Peter Metcalf and Graham Mackrell, the former Sheffield Wednesday's company secretary. Mackrell will face trial for alleged safety breaches.
Former officer Sir Norman Bettison saw an application to stay charges against him adjourned, with the hearing to take place on 21 August.
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Family members of the football fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough were in attendance at Preston Crown Court as the judge made his rulings, while other relatives watched via video link in Liverpool.
Ninety-six people lost their lives as a result of the tragedy, which occurred in 1989 during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forrest at the Sheffield football ground.
A crush occurred in the standing-only central pens in the ground's Leppings Lane stand, and in an attempt to ease overcrowding at the turnstiles, Duckenfield ordered for an exit gate to be opened, leading to a further influx of supporters and worsening the crush.
As well as the 96 who died, 766 people were injured.
In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, police fed false stories to the press, leading to reports that drunkenness and hooliganism among Liverpool supporters were responsible.
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The Taylor Report of 1990 found that the main cause was a failure of control by South Yorkshire Police, however the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled there was no evidence to justify prosecution and the first coroner's inquests ruled all deaths to be accidental.
The Hillsborough Justice Campaign and Hillsborough Families Support Grouppressed hard for the case to be reopened, and in 2009 a Hillsborough Independent Panel was formed to review all evidence.
In 2012, the subsequent report confirmed the findings of the Taylor Report and also revealed new details about police efforts to apportion blame to the fans, as well as errors in the first coroner's inquests. The findings of accidental death were subsequently quashed, with a new inquest created.
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In 2016, the second coroner's inquests ruled that supporters were unlawfully killed owing to grossly negiligent failures by police and ambulance services, and that the stadium design had contributed to the crush.
There can be no prosecution for the death of the 96th victim, Tony Bland, as he died more than a year and a day after the cause of his injuries.
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