It will be a year tomorrow, 1st April, that was the start of the G20 protests and the day Ian Tomlinson died. Julia Tomlinson, Ian’s widow, is still waiting for justice. She feels let down by CPS regarding whether they will press ahead with a prosecution of the police officer who assaulted Ian. The CPS has stalled over making a decision. This must surely prolong the agony.
“Keir Starmer has let us down personally,” said Julia Tomlinson. “Why did he say there would be a decision around Christmas? Why are we still waiting? My kids need to move on from this. They’re left without a dad now and their lives have been turned upside down over the last year, especially the four girls. He doesn’t seem to realise the pain we’re going through.”
She added: “We feel like there was a cover-up from day one, and we didn’t see it because we were nervous about the police. Now a year on it still feels like all of that is still going on. If it had been someone on the street, a civilian, who had pushed and hit Ian just before he died, and it was all caught on video, surely something would have happened by now. The officer needs to go before a jury. Let them decide what should happen to him.”
Tomorrow the Tomlinson family will lay flowers at the spot Ian died and observe a minute’s silence at 11am. I will be there and hope to see other comrades.
No justice no peace.
