Ian Tomlinson’s family break their silence
By Liz Stephens
The family of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller who collapsed and died after being hit by an officer at the G20 protests in London, has spoken out and accused the police of engaging in a cover-up.
Speaking to the Guardian, Mr Tomlinson’s widow and son said they felt the police were determined to stop them finding out the truth.
They also said had felt under pressure from the City of London police, Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) not to speak out and said police had prevented them from viewing Mr Tomlinson’s body for six days after his death.
They also disclosed that the police initially gave the family an edited version of the first post-mortem examination and were told he had “died of a heart attack”. The police allegedly made no mention of the significant injuries found on Mr Tomlinson’s body.
Evidence that there was more to the incident came to light after video footage filmed by a passing banker was released to the media. It showed Mr Tomlinson being attacked by an officer in the Metropolitan police’s territorial support group (TSG).
Mr Tomlinson’s widow Julia criticised the IPCC for failing to properly investigate her husband’s death until after the video was broadcast – almost a week after his death.
“The IPCC should have been there from day one – definitely – not left it five days later,” she said.
The family said they could no longer keep silent after the IPCC announced this week that it had completed its investigation and handed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
They still have not seen the evidence that the IPCC has passed to the CPS.
Mr Tomlinson’s son Paul King said: “We’ve been confused by the City police, Metropolitan police, IPCC to not say anything: ‘Don’t say anything, because you’ll jeopardise the case’.
“I think we’ve been so confused with all that – don’t say this, don’t say that, even down to don’t talk to the media – they’ve made us quite scared to talk.
“The IPCC have finished their investigation, we haven’t been able to talk, and we just want to let people to know how we feel. We are grieving.”
Prosecutors are currently deciding whether to bring charges of manslaughter against the officer who carried out the assault on Mr Tomlinson.
