Hillsborough police chief David Duckenfield has told the inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans in 1989 that he was "a new and inexperienced match commander" faced with "unimaginably difficult and fast-moving circumstances."
Duckenfield said he had been working to "a flawed operational [match] order" and had "not envisaged or wished for death or injury to a single football supporter" in the central pens of the Leppings Lane terrace at the FA Cup semifinal on April 15, 1989 -- Britain's worst sporting disaster.
On Tuesday, the 70-year-old agreed that his failure to close the tunnel leading to those pens was the "direct cause" of the tragedy after he had ordered the opening of an exit gate at the ground to relieve congestion at the Leppings Lane turnstiles.
The circumstances of that failure was outlined by his barrister, John Beggs QC, on Wednesday as the retired chief superintendent from South Yorkshire Police gave evidence for a seventh day at the hearing in Warrington.
Duckenfield was promoted 19 days before the disaster and inherited the role of match commander at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough ground for the sell-out tie between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest -- his first game in overall charge.
He told his barrister that, on and leading up to April 15, he did not ignore any advice given by experienced officers but accepted that, as match commander, "the buck stops with me."
Beggs said it had been suggested by a number of barristers at the inquests that Duckenfield alone should bear responsibility for the tragedy.
Duckenfield agreed he had nothing to do with previous turnstile "failures" at Sheffield Wednesday, and that no one had advised him about them.
He had no say on Liverpool fans being given the smaller end of the ground, with just 23 turnstiles, for the match. In reality, he had "inherited" the police operation.
He also had nothing to do with signage at the ground or previous decisions to install perimeter fences and radial fences, its architectural features or any breaches of stadium safety guidance on crush barrier heights.
Duckenfield said none of his four experienced colleagues in the police control box on the day had given him any hints on how to safely gauge crowd density and none had pointed out any problems with crowd density.
He added that no officers at ground level sent any messages to suggest there were density problems, and that none of the Sheffield Wednesday directors and VIPs who "had been to the ground many times before" had pointed out to him that the terraces looked overcrowded.
No message of concern was passed from the club's CCTV control room, which had access to pictures of the number of fans coming through the turnstiles, he added.
Duckenfield said that, as early as 2.15 p.m, he did not realise there were congestion problems at the Leppings Lane turnstiles, and if he had anticipated large crowds arriving after 2.30 he would have directed additional officers to go there.
The jury has heard that at about 2.30 p.m. he asked a colleague, superintendent Bernard Murray, whether fans would get into the match in time for kick-off and he was told that they would.
At around that time, Duckenfield did order a tannoy announcement be made, asking supporters to move along and spread out on the terraces, but after that did not consider delaying the kick-off.
Addressing the moment when Duckenfield opened exit gate C at 2.52 p.m., which led to 2,000 fans entering and many going to the central pens, he said he felt he had "no choice" when a superintendent outside the turnstiles made his "stark plea" for the gate to be opened.
He went on to say that he had never told any police officer how they should record the events of April 15, 1989, while confirming he had no role in the subsequent investigation by West Midlands Police into the tragedy and had no part in the direction of the force's case at Lord Justice Taylor's inquiry.