4th September 2010
Hopes Raised for Ian Tomlinson’s Family
Mark Hanson
Ian Tomlinson, who died at last year’s G20 protests in London, has become an icon of the poor methods of policing public protests.
The video footage that was released by the Guardian newspaper resulted in a swift turnaround from previous police statements insisting that they had had no contact with Tomlinson, to an admission that there had been contact. It would have been very hard for the police to have continued the official line of “no contact” once the footage had come to light.
The IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) investigated, yet this investigation was initially carried out by the London City Police, whose officers could also be seen in the footage. Shortly after the footage became public the IPCC took full control of the investigation.
Ian Tomlinson’s family were continually frustrated, even being ordered to keep the matter of his encounter with the police secret before the matter became public.
After it had become clear that it was likely that a serious crime had been committed by the police officer concerned, the IPCC reported to the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service), and privately said that they believed that there was a good case for charges to be brought.
Yet the CPS procrastinated for over a year, and when, finally, a decision whether to prosecute was reached, the decision was that there would be no charges. This brought outrage from many of the public and led to questions in the House of Commons. A Facebook group started up, and Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, laid down an Early Day Motion in protest.
It has, since, become clear that the basis for the CPS’ verdict was flawed. The reasoning for no charges being brought was the conflict in evidence between the initial post-mortem examination and the subsequent two. The first, conducted by Freddy Patel, concluded natural causes. The subsequent two concluded massive internal bleeding was the cause of death.
At the time of the CPS decision, reached by the same lawyer that decided on no action following the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, Freddy Patel was before a General Medical Council disciplinary hearing over allegations of misconduct. That hearing has now reached the decision that Patel was guilty of misconduct and he has been suspended from duty. He had already been removed from the Home Office list of permitted pathologists.
Now, in what brings hope for many who were very concerned that the police, and especially the violent-leaning Territorial Support Group (TSG), were beyond and above the law, the CPS has now chosen to re-examine the Tomlinson case in light of Patel’s now official misconduct.
The saga of Ian Tomlinson could end with suitable justice, which will be a source of comfort for the family who must have been through torment during this case, which at best has been poorly handled, and at worst has been a cover-up.
Yet there remain serious questions over the way the police handle mass-demonstrations, and the grievous damage done to the confidence that the public have in the police forces of this country.
It is imperative that public trust and confidence is restored. There needs to be a full, impartial, independent and wide-ranging review of police practice, not only in the area of public order, but on matters such as surveillance, use of terrorism-related legislation and their dealings and accountability. This should also include a review of the role of the IPCC and ACPO (the Association of Chief Police Officers).
A review carried out by the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) following the G20 protests made many recommendations for wide-ranging reform of policing methods, yet few of these recommendations have been implemented.
Rabel calls on the Government to:
- Implement the HMIC recommendations
- Initiate a full, independent, Royal Commission into Policing Methods.
In the meantime, we must hope and pray that the Tomlinson family may find the justice that is so badly needed, that they may be able to move on and, one would pray, find that they can at some point in the future forgive those involved.
