In the aftermath of the tragedy, the South Yorkshire police claimed that violent behaviour by drunken Liverpool supporters who arrived without tickets was the primary cause of the disaster.
However, after reviewing more than 450,000 previously unseen documents, the panel concludes: "The evidence shows conclusively that Liverpool fans neither caused nor contributed to the deaths of 96 men, women and children".
It also found that South Yorkshire Police and the ambulance service made "strenuous attempts to deflect blame" for the deaths onto the fans, including carrying out criminal record checks on the deceased in an attempt to "impugn their reputations".
The report also raises "profound concerns" about the appropriateness of the inquests, in particular the decision of the coroner to rule that all 96 victims died in the same way, and to impose a 3.15pm cut-off - noting that there was evidence that a number of the dead survived "for a significant period" beyond this time.
The Prime Minister today
"Mr Speaker, with the weight of the new evidence in this report, it is right for me today as Prime Minister to make a proper apology to the families of the 96 for all they have suffered over the past 23 years."
