Ian Tomlinson death inquest – live

PC Simon Harwood, the police officer who pushed Ian Tomlinson to the ground at the G20 protests two years ago, gives evidence at the newspaper seller’s inquest 9.39am: We’re about to start the fifth and potentially most dramatic day of the inquest into Ian Tomlinson’s death. PC Simon Harwood, the police officer who struck Tomlinson with a baton and shoved him to the ground moments before his death, will shortly attempt to justify his actions to a jury. You can already tell the mood is tense here. The front and back entrance to inquest venue at 70 Fleet Street are surrounded by press photographs and police. This will be Harwood’s first public appearance since he was captured on film lunging at Tomlinson, who had his hands in his pockets and his back to the office. It will also be the first time he comes face to face with Tomlinson’s widow and nine children, most of whom are in the room. Harwood had a balaclava covering his face and his badge numbers were not showing when he encountered Tomlinson around 7.20pm on April 1 2009. He only came forward to admit the assault a week later, after the Guardian released footage clearly showing him striking Tomlinson. In July last year, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute Harwood for manslaughter – although that decision could be reversed. When the inquest is over, Harwood will face a Metropolitan police disciplinary panel, but for the time being, and for the purposes of today’s proceedings, he remains a Met officer, suspended on full pay. Here is a quick recap of important developments in the inquest so far: Day 1 : The inquest opened last Tuesday with the senior judge presiding over proceedings, Peter Thornton QC, telling the jury that neither Harwood or the Met were “on trial”. He predicted that an issue of “controversy” was likely to be divergent medical evidence given by three different pathologists. Dr Freddy Patel, who conducted the first postmortem examination, concluded Tomlinsond died of a heart attack. Dr Nat Cary and Dr Kenneth Shorrock found he died of internal bleeding. Day 2: The jury heard how Harwood was a van driver in the Territorial Support Group (TSG) who had strayed from his post without the knowledge of his supervising officer before his encounter with Tomlinson. It emerged that Tomlinson may have been the last of a handful of protesters and bystanders to become embroiled with Harwood, who minutes earlier was caught on CCTV engaging in scuffles with a protester and possibly dragging a press cameraman to the ground. Day 3: The New York investment fund manager who shot the crucial footage of Harwood’s assault of Tomlinson and handed the material to the Guardian described seeing the newspaper vendor being “violently shoved”. He said Tomlinson was “not being confrontation at all” moments before the attack . Earlier, another police officer described the moment Harwood saw footage of the attack on television. “PC Harwood was sitting next to me and his reaction was, ‘My God that’s me’”, said his colleague PC Alex Jackman. “I thought he was joking.” Day 4: In arguably one of the most significant developments, a police officer who spoke to Tomlinson seconds before he was struck by Harwood said it was clear he was not a demonstrator and he “posed no threat”. PC Kerry Smith also said she was “shocked by the forcefulness of the push” to Tomlinson. Smith spoke to Tomlinson as he tried to get through a police cordon on Royal Exchange Buildings as he tried to get home. She said she had expected to see blood after seeing Tomlinson propelled to the ground a few feet in front of her. Ian Tomlinson Police G20 Protest London Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 4, 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.