Tomlinson inquiry sum-up begins

Full coverage of the judge’s summing up at the inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson at the 2009 G20 protests in London 10.44am: In answer to a question from a reader, Tomlinson’s family are here, including his widow Julia and stepson Richard. Harwood is not at today’s hearing. 10.43am: The question of whether Harwood acted reasonably is an objective test, says Judge Thornton. Was the actual force used reasonable? He reminds the jury that Harwood said it was “a very poor push” but others said it was more significant. Having seen the footage, the jury can determine that, the judge says. If the jury members are sure at the higher standard of proof that the answer to the question about whether the force used in the push was not reasonable, they must find that the police officer acted unreasonably, judge Thornton says. 10.38am: A baton strike or push by any person is an assault unless justified by the law, says Thompson. The police were entitled to clear the passage on the day of the G20 protests. The judge directs the jury that the dispersal sweep of Royal Exchange Buildings was lawful. But police officers should have avoided the use of force if at all avoidable, says Thornton. To test any use of force it must be asked: 1. What did the police force perceive the facts to be? 2. Did he act reasonably? The first test is a subjective one, says judge Thornton, but it should be borne in mind that Tomlinson was walking in the direction police officers wanted him to go. Witnesses said he was not a threat, including other police officers, the judge tells the jury. Harwood also said “he was not a threat to him or any other police officer”. But Harwood said that in his perception Tomlinson was walking towards the police line. The jury will have to decided whether Harwood was “honestly mistaken given that events happened quickly” or “has he lied about it for his own ends”, Thompson says. 10.34am: Judge Thornton explains that unlawful killing occurs when a person “deliberately and unlawfully” commits an offence that causes death. It is subject to a higher standard of proof. In order to return such a verdict Harwood must have deliberately used force. It must also have been unlawful – it doesn’t matter whether Harwood knew it was unlawful. It must also have been dangerous. 10.32am: The judge is now directing the jury on the possible verdicts. He tells the jury that if they find the cause of death was a spontaneous heart attack, they must record a verdict of death by natural causes. Otherwise, they must consider unlawful killing, says judge Thornton. 10.30am: The judge tells the judy that if they find Dr [Freddy] Patel is right, “you will record cause of death coronary disease”. He goes on: “If you find that Dr [Nat] Cary is right you will record the cause of death as abdominal haemorrhage.” He explains that if the jury records Tomlinson died from abdominal haemorrhage, they need to decide whether the haemorrhage was caused by a baton strike or a push. If they find the cause of death to be coronary disease they should record whether it was caused by the stress of being pushed/struck or if it was unrelated. The jury are told they should not name any police officer. But they should record whether the police officer struck Tomlinson with a baton and whether he pushed him. The jury are also told they should record whether Tomlinson was walking towards or away from officers when he was struck. 10.27am: Judge Thornton tells the jury members that the inquest is a fact-finding mission and they are not expected to apportion blame. The judge says they should “not be influenced one way or the other” by the decision of the director of public prosecutions not to bring charges against Harwood nor the decision by the Metropolitan police to bring disciplinary charges against him. 10.24am: The jury members are told they will get a chance to examine the baton during a break in proceedings later. They are told that Harwood has confirmed (on a previous occasion) that it is of the type, weight, length that he used. The jury are initially being given the coroner’s directions in law in writing. 10.10am: Proceedings have begun. Judge Thornton says the evidence is closed apart from one small item. A baton of the type used by Simon Harwood on 1 April 2009 is being shown to the jury. It is not the actual baton he used. 10.00am: Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller who died after he was struck by police during the G20 protests in London on 1 April 2009. The jury has heard all the evidence and today the assistant deputy coroner, judge Peter Thornton QC, will sum up the case (he is due to start at 10am). Of interest will be whether he rules in/out the jury returning any verdicts, particularly “unlawful killing”. During the inquest the jury has heard evidence from Simon Harwood , the officer who struck Tomlinson, as well as Freddy Patel , the pathologist who concluded that Tomlinson died of a heart attack due to natural causes. The jury also heard from a number of medical experts who contradicted Patel’s evidence. For legal reasons, we cannot allow comments on this blog but if you have any observations questions please email me on haroon.siddique@guardian.co.uk or message me on twitter @haroon_siddique. Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 28, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.