Police statements on Tomlinson death to be investigated
By Alice Cannet
An investigation into the police media handling of the G20 death will be conducted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
Ian Tomlinson allegedly died of an internal haemorrhage moments after he was hit by a police officer during last month’s G20 protests.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) did not mention Mr Tomlinson had come into contact with officers when the death was made public and insisted the 47 year old had died of natural causes.
Footage published last month left no doubt as to whether the police did use foce against him and the MPS had to review their previous statements.
The IPCC has begun an independent investigation after the family of Ian Tomlinson complained about the MPS misinformation in the week following the incident.
The circumstances of Mr Tomlinson’s death are at the heart of other investigations and two post-mortem examinations, but today’s announcement covers only police statements about the incident, rather than the death itself.
But this new inquiry will look into the extent of police knowledge about the incident and in particular their awareness of the level of contact the Police had with Tomlinson.
Deborah Glass, IPCC deputy chair said: “Not only the Tomlinson family, but also many members of the public and MPs have raised with us concerns about whether the police either misinformed the public about the circumstances of Mr Tomlinson’s death or failed to correct misinformation about how he died.
“I have therefore decided that, not only will we investigate the family’s specific complaint about the content and timing of the MPS media communications on the night of 1 April, but that we should also seek to determine, as far as practicable, the state of knowledge that both the MPS and City of London Police had about any police contact with Ian Tomlinson between 1 April 2009 and 7 April 2009.”
