The whole episode of the killing of Ian Tomlinson brings into stark relief the deep doubts about the criminal justice system in its treatment of the police.
First, the IPCC whose role is to hold the police to account resisted calls to open an investigation for 7 days after Tomlinson’s death. They only reversed this decision when the Guardian released video footage taken by a visiting US fund manager showing Tomlinson hit by a baton and pushed to the ground by a policeman. Had those pictures not been taken and had the Guardian not made them public, the whole matter would have been swept under the carpet from the start because the City of London police detective superintendent put in charge of the inquiry because of the IPCC’s passivity told the family that Tomlinson had simply “run out of batteries” and may have had a heart attack because of the demo. Continue reading
Today is the start of the inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson in the G20 protests last year. The kettling tactics used by the police to squeeze protestors against the tripling of student fees a few months ago could easily have caused further fatalities. Certainly they caused immense discomfort to young and old alike, when they were herded on to the narrow confines of Westminster Bridge and squashed there without let-up for 5 hours, even though their only offence was that they were peacefully demonstrating against the government reneging on a major election promise earlier in the same year. 