Metropolitan police win appeal against high court ruling criticising violent tactics at the G20 protest in 2009

Owen Bowcott

Police tactics of kettling protesters, used extensively during the G20 protests in London three years ago, have been upheld as lawful.

The appeal court overturned a previous ruling by the high court on the controversial technique deployed to contain demonstrators during the climate camp sit-in.

Lord Neuberger, the Master of the Rolls, sitting in the court of appeal with Lord Justice Hughes and Lord Justice Sullivan, declared that the lower court’s finding was flawed and allowed the appeal by the Metropolitan police commissioner.

The ruling was immediately criticised by protesters and their lawyers, who said they would challenge the legal setback in the supreme court.

A Scotland Yard officer has denied killing newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests.

Simon Harwood

PC Simon Harwood has denied killing Ian Tomlinson

Mr Tomlinson, who was 47, collapsed and died at the demonstrations in central London in April 2009.

PC Simon Harwood, a father of two, showed no emotion when he pleaded not guilty to the charge of manslaughter at Southwark Crown Court.

As Harwood, 40, denied the allegation, relatives of Mr Tomlinson gasped from the public gallery.

His widow Julia wiped tears from her eyes, while his stepson Paul King hung his head and muttered “no”.

Mrs Tomlinson has previously said the death devastated her family, adding: “I remember feeling he was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

The trial of the police officer accused over the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests in April 2009, has been set for October 2012.

The date was set on Friday morning at Southwark crown court and means the trial will not take place until three and a half years after Tomlinson died.

PC Simon Harwood is charged with manslaughter over the death and was caught on video striking Tomlinson with his baton.Tomlinson, a 47-year-old newspaper seller, collapsed and died at the demonstration over the G20 summit, near the Bank of England on 1 April 2009, moments after being struck with a baton and pushed to the ground.

Harwood was on duty as clashes broke out between demonstrators and police. He is currently suspended from duty.

The Metropolitan Police officer involved in the G20 protests death of Ian Tomlinson has been charged with manslaughter and will face trial.

On Tuesday, the Director of Public Prosecutions decided that there was enough evidence to charge Scotland Yard officer PC Simon Harwood, who will appear in court next month.

The development comes after Keir Starmer QC vowed to launch a quick and "thorough" review of his decision not to prosecute after an inquest jury unanimously ruled earlier this month that the newspaper seller was unlawfully killed at the protests.

by Tom Pettifor

Julia Tomlinson has lodged papers at the High Court which are thought to be a damages claim for assault.

Her action follows Ian’s inquest where jurors found he died as a result of being hit by PC Simon Harwood at the G20 demo two years ago.

Compensation is expected to be a five-figure sum and is unlikely to be strongly contested by the Met police.

But it will not be settled until after disciplinary and possible criminal action against PC Harwood.

Mrs Tomlinson’s writ names Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson as the respondent.

Ulster peer accuses Sir Paul Stephenson of sacrificing Harwood, who fatally injured Ian Tomlinson at G20 protests

Britain’s most senior police officer has denied making a “fall guy” out of Simon Harwood, the officer found to have unlawfully killed Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests.

Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan police commissioner, was accused by the Ulster Unionist peer Lord Maginnis of being prepared to “surrender” PC Harwood.

An inquest jury concluded on Tuesday that Tomlinson was unlawfully killed when Harwood struck him with a baton and pushed him to the ground during the demonstrations in London on 1 April 2009.

The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, is considering whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Harwood for manslaughter. He previously said he believed there was not.

Tod beim G-20-Gipfel vor zwei Jahren

Überraschende Wende im Fall des im April 2009 beim G-20-Gipfel in London ums Leben gekommenen Passanten: Eine in London veröffentlichte gerichtliche Untersuchung ergab, dass der 47-Jährige von einem Polizisten “unrechtmäßig” angegriffen worden war. Der Polizist habe rücksichtslos und gefährlich gehandelt, als er den Mann während der Demonstration 2009 mit einem Schlagstock attackiert und auf den Boden gestoßen hatte. Der Beamte habe “überzogene und unangemessene” Kraft eingesetzt. Der Passant habe keine Gefahr dargestellt.

Der Fall könnte nun wieder aufgerollt werden. Vergangenen Sommer war entschieden worden, dass der Polizist nicht vor Gericht muss. Zur Begründung hatte die Staatsanwaltschaft damals gesagt, dass es keine reale Aussicht auf eine Verurteilung des Polizisten gebe. Jetzt wird geprüft, ob es doch eine Anklage geben könnte.

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3 May 2011

The jury at the inquest into the death of 47 year old Ian Tomlinson, who died on 1 April 2009 in the context of a heavily-policed and high profile G20 demonstration, have today returned a verdict of unlawful killing. They found that:

Time, place and circumstances at or in which injury was sustained:

Mr Tomlinson was on his way home from work on 1st April 2009 during the G20 demonstrations.

He was fatally injured at around 19.20 in Royal Exchange Buildings (the Passage), near to the junction with Cornhill, London EC3. This was as a result of a baton strike from behind and a push in the back by a police officer which caused Mr Tomlinson to fall heavily.

Both the baton strike and the push were excessive and unreasonable.

Duncan Robinson

The jury concluded that the newspaper seller was unlawfully killed by a police officer at the G20 protests in 2009.

Ian Tomlinson was “unlawfully killed” by a police officer during the G20 protests in 2009, an inquest into his death has found.

The verdict did not refer to PC Simon Harwood – who struck Tomlinson with a baton and pushed him to the ground – by name, but it has reopened the possibility that Harwood will face charges for his actions on 1 April 2009.

The jury found that Harwood’s actions were “excessive and unreasonable” and that Tomlinson “posed no threat” to police.

CPS reviews decision not to prosecute PC Simon Harwood over the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests two years ago

Paul Lewis

PC Simon Harwood’s first public account of what happened to Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests two years ago came at the beginning of last month, at the inquest into the newspaper vendor’s death.

Told by the judge that he did not have to answer questions if he believed doing so would incriminate himself, Harwood replied: “I was very aware of that. I’m here as a witness to help the inquest and also to give some sort of answers to help the family.”

Hearing this, Tomlinson’s wife Julia and two of her sons walked out of the hearing room, apparently in disbelief.

Ian Tomlinson was unlawfully killed by a Scotland Yard officer at the G20 protests, an inquest jury ruled today.

Criminal proceedings could reopen against Pc Simon Harwood after jurors ruled he acted illegally, recklessly and dangerously in shoving Mr Tomlinson to the ground.

Evidence from Pc Harwood and pathologist Dr Freddy Patel was discredited as part of the verdict which will prompt reviews by both the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police.

Dr Patel has now been suspended from the Home Office register of pathologists.

Mr Tomlinson, a homeless 47-year-old newspaper seller, collapsed and died on the fringes of the demonstrations in central London on April 1 2009.

The death became an international controversy after New York businessman Christopher La Jaunie handed footage he had taken of the police confrontation to the Guardian newspaper.

Inquest told Tomlinson’s death was caused by bleeding after he was struck with a baton and shoved to the ground by police

A forensic pathologist has told an inquest that the only plausible explanation for the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests was internal bleeding from an injured liver.

Dr Kenneth Shorrock, who was instructed by the Metropolitan Police after one of its officers was shown on film shoving Tomlinson to the ground, said the injury to the organ was “consistent” with the footage.

Two activists have won their case against policing of the G20 protests, as the High Court ruled police containment was “not justified”.

The judges upheld Hannah McClure and Josh Moos’s case that police used “violence” to control the Camp for Climate Action in London in April 2009.

There was “no reasonable” justification for “kettling” but police did not unlawfully try to clear the camp.

The Metropolitan Police said it would appeal against the court’s judgement.

The inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson is due to start, nearly two years after he collapsed at the G20 protests.

The 47-year-old newspaper-seller died after collapsing on the pavement on the fringes of protests on April 1 2009.

Pathologist Dr Freddy Patel originally found that Mr Tomlinson died of natural causes but amateur video footage emerged showing him being pushed to the ground by a police officer.

Judge Peter Thornton QC, sitting as assistant deputy coroner, will hear evidence at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in Fleet Street, London. The jury inquest is expected to last for up to six weeks.

Case arises as police prepare to handle protest march against government cuts through London on Saturday

Vikram Dodd

Police officers used punches to the face, slaps and shields against demonstrators whom police chiefs accept had nothing to do with violence, the high court will hear today.

The case relates to the G20 protests in London on 1 April 2009 during which Ian Tomlinson, a bystander, died after being struck by an officer.

The court action is a test of the police tactic of kettling, used to detain a mass of people at protests. The case precedes Saturday’s march through London to protest against government budget cuts that will again test how effectively Scotland Yard can manage protests. According to court documents seen by the Guardian, police in charge of the protest ordered a climate camp to be kettled and then cleared, but officers were left to decide how much force they should use.

by Laurie Hanna

THE Metropolitan Police has paid more than £100,000 to G20 protesters who claim they were mistreated by riot cops.

An investigation by the Mirror found the cash had been used to keep 30 cases out of court.

As of this month, £117,000 had been given to demonstrators who say they were assaulted or falsely imprisoned in the protests of April 2009.

The biggest payout was to David Hoffman, details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveals.

The photographer, 64, was left with four ­fractured teeth after being smashed in the face with a shield.

Previous denial ‘was not accurate’ says Scotland Yard

METROPOLITAN Police chiefs have finally admitted that undercover officers infiltrated crowds at the G20 demonstrations in London in 2009, nearly two years after telling the House of Commons that “there were no plain clothes officers deployed at all”.

The April 2009 demo was the one at which bystander Ian Tomlinson died after being beaten by police.

“Having made thorough checks on the back of recent media reporting we have now established that covert officers were deployed during the G20 protests,” read a Met statement.

Metropolitan police admits senior commander gave false information to MPs when quizzed about protests in 2009

Giving evidence to the House of Commons home affairs committee a month after the protest – in which thousands of demonstrators clashed with police – Commander Bob Broadhurst insisted there were no plain-clothes officers among the crowd, saying it would have been too dangerous to do so.

But committee chairman Keith Vaz last week wrote to the Met’s commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson after questions arose about Cmdr Broadhurst’s evidence in the wake of the unmasking of undercover policeman Mark Kennedy, who attended many demonstrations during seven years living as a spy among green activists.

An inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson will start in March, nearly two years after he collapsed at the G20 protests, the City of London Corporation has said.

The 47-year-old newspaper seller died after collapsing on the pavement on the fringes of protests on April 1 2009.

Pathologist Dr Freddy Patel originally found that Mr Tomlinson died of natural causes but amateur video footage emerged showing him being pushed to the ground by a police officer.

David Hoffman suffered fractured teeth after a police inspector in full riot gear ran at him and hit him with the shield

A photographer who was struck in the face by a police shield during the G20 protests last year has been awarded £30,000 compensation by the Metropolitan police.

David Hoffman, who was covering the event in his professional capacity, suffered fractured teeth after a police inspector in full riot gear ran at him and hit him with the shield, says his law firm, Bindmans, which negotiated the settlement.

Hoffman’s solicitor, Chez Cotton, said in a statement: "Journalists such as my client are critical in disseminating information into the wider public domain.