If it hadn’t been for that video footageI am imagine Ian Tomlinson’s death would have been filed away as a ’heart attack’, the IPCC would have been relieved, the cops vindicated, the protesters vilified.
Along comes some video footage which portrays the cops, in all their violent and brutal thuggery, indulging in an unprovoked vicious attack….
A second post-mortem examination is held… and the conclusion:
A subsequent post-mortem examination was conducted by another consultant forensic pathologist, Dr Nat Cary, instructed by the IPCC and by solicitors acting for the family of the late Mr Tomlinson.
Dr Cary’s opinion is that the cause of death was abdominal haemorrhage. The cause of the haemorrhage remains to be ascertained.
IPCC response:Following the initial results of the second post mortem, a Metropolitan police officer has been interviewed under caution for the offence of manslaughter as part of an ongoing inquiry into the death of Ian Tomlinson.
The solicitor of the family’s response: The video footage of the unprovoked and vicious assault on Ian by the police officer would easily justify charges of assault being brought against the officer.
The findings of Dr Nat Cary significantly increase the likelihood that the officer will now face the more serious charge of manslaughter.
Whether more video footage is unearthed remains to be seen. Whether this suspended cop or any other cop gets charged with manslaughter remains to be seen and to be honest, I won’t hold my breath as some excuse will be found. And that also depends on the political pressure as well….
Justice for Ian Tomlinson!
NB: According to C4 News (17/4/09) only one cop has been interviewed by the IPCC so far under caution ….
And they waited well over a week to do this. To say the IPCC is reluctant to take on the police is an understatement. Independent..?!? You have gotta be kidding…
And makes you again wonder at all the police related deaths where no camera was and a post-mortem exonerated them of responsibility. One thing this case is doing is laying bare the mechanisms of the establishment in all their clumsy omertà-ish glory.
Isn’t the first forensic pathologist who conducted the first post-mortem, a tame one who’s been under a cloud before? Such as with Roger Sylvester, a black man with mental health problems.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/11/g20-pathologist-ian-tomlinson
Madam Miaow: Yep, tis the same pathologist. I am sure they deliberately chose a cop-friendly pathologist..
RickB: “And makes you again wonder at all the police related deaths where no camera was and a post-mortem exonerated them of responsibility”
There was CCTV footage of the death of Christopher Alder in police custody but no cop was held accountable or any investigation into police racism.
“From video evidence shown to the jury it was demonstrated that he died after being left unconsciousface down on the floor of Queen’s Gardens Police Station Custody Suite for 11 minutes. His trousers were around his knees, he had been doubly incontinent and blood formed a pool around his mouth. Apart from removing the handcuffs when he was initially brought into the police station the four police officers present in the custody suite did not touch Mr Alder in the 11 minutes he layd ying on the floor despite his condition. Rattles of his breath were also clearly heard on the video.”
Same old pattern from the coppers and their friends in the ‘I’PCC all the time, lie, dissemble and bullshit.
The police have been told time and time again that the tactics they employ are dangerous, and they have no plans to abandon them even after this tragedy. Nothing will happen to the killers in uniform of course, but people’s eyes are being opened about their true nature.
At least eithteen policer officer witnessed the Tomlinson assault.
Several were earlier involved in the ‘dog attack’ incident at the other end of Royal Exchange Buildings, where suspected FIT officers – ‘public order specialists’, lest we forget – appeared to be directing officers.
When we consider issues like these, and then consider also the police management of information before, during and after the G20 protests – the ‘Summer of rage’ warnings, the ‘brave police medics under a hail of missiles’, the ‘drunk protesters blocked ambulances’ (twenty years on from Hillsborough, has anything changed?), then is it any doubt that many people express such grave scepticism in the impartiality, the honesty, the morality of the police, at every level, from the front line to the command centre?