Two retired police officers and an ex-solicitor accused of altering police statements after the Hillsborough disaster have been acquitted.
Retired Ch Supt Donald Denton, retired Det Ch Insp Alan Foster and former solicitor Peter Metcalf had denied perverting the course of justice.
They were accused of trying to minimise the blame on South Yorkshire Police in the aftermath of the 1989 disaster.
Mr Justice William Davis ruled they had no case to answer.
He said the statements had been prepared for the public inquiry chaired by Lord Taylor in 1990.
The judge said this was not a statutory inquiry and therefore not considered "a court of law", so it was not a "course of public justice" which could be perverted.
Ninety-six Liverpool fans died as a result of the crush at the FA Cup semi-final match at Sheffield Wednesday's ground on 15 April 1989.
One family member, Chrissie Burke, called out to the jury "the families are heartbroken".
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has campaigned with the Hillsborough families, said the ruling was "a disgrace and so disrespectful to the families".
He added: "Why was it not left to the jury to decide?
"I can only conclude that the scales of justice in this country are weighed heavily against ordinary people."
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram tweeted: "My thoughts are once again with the families of the 96 today, who face yet another kick in the teeth."
Before the jury was called into court, prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse QC said they would not seek leave to appeal the judge's decision.
Sue Hemming, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said they were "right to bring this case and for a court to hear the evidence of what happened in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster".
"Words cannot describe the sheer devastation of the Hillsborough disaster and the impact on the family and friends of the 96 who died, and hundreds more who were injured," she said.
Analysis
By Judith Moritz, BBC North of England correspondent
The collapse of this trial will anger and distress many of those who've spent 32 years campaigning for "Justice for the 96".
It's likely that it will mark the end of the legal road for them, which has been long and winding, with few ups and many downs.
In 2016 they celebrated the inquests verdicts which found that the 96 had been unlawfully killed, and that the fans were not to blame.
There were high hopes for accountability. But the match commander David Duckenfield was acquitted after two trials, and the collapse of this aftermath trial means that no one has been convicted for the alleged cover-up.
Over the last three decades there have been four trials, two sets of inquests, a public inquiry and several other investigations and reviews.
Despite all of those proceedings, it remains the case that the bereaved families feel let down by the system. They feel that they know the truth of what happened to their loved ones, but they haven't had justice.
Six men were charged in 2017 following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into allegations of a cover-up by police following the tragedy.
All charges against Sir Norman Bettison, a chief inspector in 1989, who was accused of trying to blame Liverpool fans for the disaster, were dropped in 2018 because of insufficient evidence.
The match commander on the day, David Duckenfield, was found not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter at a retrial in November 2019, after the jury in his first trial was unable to reach a verdict.
Sheffield Wednesday's former club secretary Graham Mackrell was found guilty of a health and safety offence in May 2019, relating to the provision of turnstiles.
Mr Denton, 83, of Sheffield; Mr Foster, 74, of Harrogate; and Mr Metcalf, 71, of Ilkley, had all denied two counts of perverting the course of justice.
The three men had been on trial at the Nightingale Court at the Lowry Theatre in Salford for more than four weeks.
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2021-05-26 10:42:10Z
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