'Gross misconduct' - but police watchdog still won't throw the book at Hillsborough police chief Sir Norman Bettison One of Britain's most senior police officers, who was severely criticised for his role in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, abused his position and would have faced dismissal for gross misconduct if he had not quit with his full pension, the police watchdog has found. Families of the victims this evening called for Sir Norman Bettison to be stripped of his knighthood and his £83,000-a-year pension after a damning report into his conduct. They said they were "shell-shocked" that he could now escape sanction after having stood down. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) also expressed its exasperation that Sir Norman, the former Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, cannot face a disciplinary hearing because he quit the force in October. The watchdog said it was instead "publishing its findings for the public to judge." Sir Norman had a case to answer for discreditable conduct and abuse of authority, the watchdog ruled, which, if proven in a disciplinary hearing, would justify dismissal on grounds of gross misconduct. It said he had tried to influence his own police authority's attempt to refer him to the IPCC. "We want to see him stripped of his honours - his knighthood and his Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University," said Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son, James, was one of the 96 victims who died in the 1989 disaster at the football stadium. I believe he resigned to protect his pension and his behaviour has shown he is not deserving of that pension. Steve Kelly, of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, described the findings as "another kick in the teeth." He said: "I'm shell-shocked. They can say "He was a bad boy and would have been disciplined or most likely kicked out of the force but sorry we can't do anything about it." The Hillsborough tragedy in Sheffield in April 1989 was the worst sporting disaster in British history. It was caused by huge overcrowding on a terrace before an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. To ease overcrowding outside, police opened an exit gate, allowing supporters to flood in. Fenced in, Liverpool fans were crushed to death. The former senior officer, who has always denied blaming Liverpool fans for the tragedy, faces a separate investigation by the police watchdog into allegations that he took part in a smear campaign to mislead the media, Parliament and the public following the disaster, where he was present as a spectator. The deputy chair of the IPPC, Deborah Glass, said the case should serve as a "salutary reminder" to chief officers of the damage done to public confidence in policing when the behaviour of senior leaders was called into question. She said: "Given the effect that those allegations have had on the public perception of him and policing generally, his attempts to manipulate and manage the perception of the referral of complaints about him, for his own self-interest, is particularly concerning. The report examines the circumstances following the publication of the Hillsborough Panel's findings in September last year. The watchdog said his position allowed him to have repeated conversations with the chair and chief executive of the West Yorkshire Police Authority, which was charged with deciding his fate - a privilege not afforded the officers who served under him. The IPCC said: "We consider that his actions would so undermine the faith of those officers serving under him, and members of the public, that a panel considering this conduct would form the view that Sir Norman's position as head of the force was untenable and thus dismissal would be justified. But the report noted that chief executive Fraser Sampson and chair Mark Burns-Williamson, who is now West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, failed to point out that his overtures to refer himself were inappropriate. Sir Norman's solicitor, John Harding, described the investigation as "incomplete" but said his client would co-operate with the wider IPCC inquiry. A Conservative MP, Alec Shelbrooke, also said Sir Norman should lose his knighthood if he is unable to clear his name: "If the IPCC allegations are held up that... [he] tried to look after his own self-interest before anything else, then that's incompatible with being knighted for services to the police force."