A POLICE boss has failed to find out why false claims were made about weapons at the Albion v Crystal Palace match.

Katy Bourne, Sussex’s police and crime commissioner, promised to hold the force to account and find out why it had been claimed knives and knuckledusters had been taken to the Amex by fans.

But during her monthly performance and accountability meeting with the chief constable yesterday, Mrs Bourne failed to address the main question on everyone’s mind.

She did not ask Giles York why one of his highest-ranking officers told the press and public officers had recovered knives and knuckledusters on the night of November 28 when they had not.

Before the meeting, she was tweeted by Steve O’Connell, a Croydon councillor, who said he had written to her “in the strongest terms” about Sussex Police’s treatment and untruths of Palace fans.

She responded, saying: “I will be covering this important matter at my performance and accountability meeting.”

But she did not.

Mrs Bourne opened the meeting saying: “There’s been some inaccuracies reported in the media.”

However she never directly asked why Chief Inspector Simon Nelson issued the statement without even having the weapons in evidence.

During the meeting, she, Mr York and his assistant Steve Barry spoke of the funding at policing matches and whether the police are ready for the next meeting between the clubs.

But the closest Mrs Bourne got to the false claims was questioning why Ch Ins Nelson said it was a “return to the dark days of football”, stating that the six arrests proved it was not.

Mr Barry responded by stating the force had apologised in the media for the reports.

He goes on to talk about Albion chief executive Paul Barber’s letter in The Argus, which talked about the fan troubles, and said the force had put the events behind them.

Mr York later said: “This was one piece of information that got skewed through communication channels and possibly shared unnecessarily. I am really sorry for the effects that it has had and for the concern that it has caused people.”

But this still leaves question marks.

Mrs Bourne’s failure to address the issue was met with disappointment by the organisation which represents football fans.

Amanda Jacks, a caseworker for the Football Supporters’ Federation, told The Argus: “I watched the webcast with great interest. Unfortunately, it did not answer the many supporters outstanding questions.

“Sussex Police are aware I still have a report of Crystal Palace supporters’ experiences of the policing operation to submit, pending external advice. While apologies are accepted, apologies do not answer questions that supporters’ groups will be persisting in finding answers to.”