8th May 2011
Finally Official Acknowledgement, But Mixed Emotions for Tomlinson Family
Mark Hanson
Two years. Over two years. It has taken that long before the family of Ian Tomlinson could taste that justice is being done. Anger, heartbreak, grief and frustration. Finally, relief, joy, elation, and the knowledge that a battle still lies ahead.
The heady mix of emotions that must be running through the family of Ian Tomlinson cannot be easy to bear. Along with the joy that the inquest into Ian’s death, at its end, has brought, with the verdict that he was unlawfully killed, will surely come a renewed grieving that he is no longer with them. Now, there is still a battle ahead, as PC Simon Harwood faces a public disciplinary hearing and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) review their previous decision not to prosecute.
The inquest jury decided that they could rule that Ian Tomlinson was unlawfully killed “beyond reasonable doubt”. This is the same burden of proof as would need to apply in a criminal trial. They concluded that a police officer used “excessive and unreasonable” force in the instance of both the baton strike to Ian’s leg and the subsequent push to the ground, which they ruled led directly to his death. An inquest is not intended to apportion blame, and so Harwood was not named in the verdict.
The video footage and other evidence, however, place Harwood as the police officer responsible. He now faces gross misconduct charges, and if these are upheld then he will in all likelihood be dismissed from the police force.
The CPS review could also mean that Harwood faces trial and possible conviction for manslaughter, which potentially carries a prison sentence.
Whilst I can feel for the Tomlinson family and their desire for the full weight of punishment to be meted out to Harwood, we must be careful not to forget mercy. Justice has, in part, been done in that the police officer has been found to be responsible. Harwood is clearly unfit to work as a police officer and there remain serious questions as to why his actions, and those of many other officers at the 2009 G20 demonstrations and other, subsequent, protests, were allegedly covered up for so long. Full justice is still some way off.
Yet we must also be recognising of the difficult position that police officers are in during these demonstrations: police officers whose primary role is to deal with criminals and troublemakers, in a situation where tensions and emotions run high.
In my times of prayer I have become convinced that Harwood deserves the same mercy that has been extended to so many. A posse of activists seeking the scalp of an official representative does not serve mercy. Harwood should now be sacked, and although I cannot speak for Tomlinson’s family and how these developments are really affecting them, there has to come a time by God’s Own grace, that we come to forgive and truly move on. That is a spiritual blessing that cannot be brought by a court of law.
Our prayers must be with the family of Ian Tomlinson.
