Anger over police chief's book denying there was a Hillsborough cover-up: Families say he is trying to 'make himself look like a victim' 

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Sir Norman Bettison (pictured), resigned as Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police in 2012,but was a chief inspector in Sheffield in 1989

A former police chief has been criticised for writing a book denying a Hillsborough disaster cover-up.

Victims’ families hit out at Sir Norman Bettison – a South Yorkshire chief inspector at the time of the 1989 tragedy.

Sir Norman, who has been criticised by reports on the stadium disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans died, has written Hillsborough Untold to give his side of the story.

On BBC2’s Newsnight, Sir Norman, who is giving the proceeds of the book to charity, claimed he had become a ‘poster boy for conspiracy theorists’ and the ‘whipping boy for revenge’.

He said he was only a ‘peripheral’ figure in the disaster, adding: ‘My name is attached to lots of things, and lots of things are myths.’

But Margaret Aspinall, whose son James, 18, died at Hillsborough, yesterday accused Sir Norman of trying to ‘make himself look like the victim’. 

The chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group said: ‘I don’t think it was appropriate for him to publish the book. I think he had a cheek even considering writing it, knowing under the circumstances that the book would hurt so many people.

‘There’s nothing he says which surprises me any more. He did say it was going to be the “untold story” but there’s nothing in there that we didn’t already know. I think he’s a sad man. His book is irrelevant. The truth is out there and that’s all that matters.’

In the memoir, dedicated to his granddaughters, Sir Norman wrote: ‘I would not want either granddaughter to harbour a doubt that Grandpa was a criminal, or wrestle with the unanswered accusation that he acted dishonourably in the wake of a terrible human tragedy.’

The 60-year-old had been part of a team tasked with gathering evidence after the disaster.

The truth about the Hillsborough disaster (pictured) took many years to come out and painted several senior police officers in a very poor light

In 2012 the Hillsborough Independent Panel report revealed that 164 police officers’ statements had been altered. The panel said the changes were part of attempts by senior officers to deflect criticism on to fans and away from police blunders.

Sir Norman resigned as West Yorkshire chief constable after the report’s release. This year a fresh inquest – at which Sir Norman had denied being part of a ‘black propaganda unit’ – found fans had not been to blame.

Sir Norman, who helped prepare for Lord Taylor’s 1990 inquiry which included claims drunk and ticketless fans tried to get into the stadium, is now being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

When asked why he continued to raise the issue of fans being drunk and arriving late, he said: ‘These are facts that I believe shouldn’t be concealed.’

On the way officers’ statements were amended, he said: ‘I knew of the process. My own account was amended. I never, at the time, saw anything as part of this process that caused me any concern.’

And Sir Norman criticised the 2012 report, saying: ‘For anyone who already had a prejudice about the police role, post-disaster, there were references that allowed them to infer all kinds of mischief.’

In his book Sir Norman describes attending the match as a Liverpool fan, as well as his role afterwards.