Monday 13 April 2009

Officer suspended



The police officer seen hitting and pushing a man during the G20 protests who later died of a heart attack was yesterday suspended by the Metropolitan police.

The action came after it emerged that a second post mortem examination into the death of Ian Tomlinson will be carried out by Dr Nat Carey, one of Britain's most eminent forensic pathologists.

The officer was suspended after a request from the Independent Police Complaints Commission "in the public interest".

A spokesman for IPCC said: "The IPCC has called for the officer to be suspended. The MPS has now informed us that the officer has suspended with immediate effect.

A Met police spokesman said: "An MPS TSG Police Constable has been suspended, effective immediately, in relation to the IPCC investigation into the death of Ian Tomlinson. Although the MPS consulted with the IPCC the decision was taken independently by the MPS having considered all the circumstances."

The second post mortem is expected to focus on whether Mr Tomlinson shows signs of having been bitten by a police dog or of bruising to his legs or body that is consistent with being hit with a baton.

The first post mortem examination was carried out on Friday afternoon and found that the father of nine died from natural causes.

This was minutes after footage showed him being violently shoved to the ground by a helmeted and baton wielding Metropolitan police officer last Wednesday evening.

The IPCC told journalists at the start of the week that Mr Tomlinson did not have any bruising or scratches on his head or shoulders, but did not mention whether he had any other signs of injury.

The family of Mr Tomlinson have asked Dr Carey to conduct the examination on their behalf as have the IPCC.

As Dr Carey’s independence is not in question he will produce a report for both parties.

IPCC investigators were on Wednesday still looking for CCTV footage that shows Mr Tomlinson coming into contact with police towards the end of the G20 protests last week.

They are also readying themselves to interview four Metropolitan Police officers that were near to Mr Tomlinson when he was hit who have come forward. One of those is the officer seen pushing Mr Tomlinson.

The Met issued a statement yesterday saying that they had no intention about misleading the public about Mr Tomlinson coming into contact with their officers.

“It is now clear that Mr Tomlinson did come into contact with police prior to his death and that a number of the officers depicted in the footage on a national newspaper's website have identified themselves as MPS officers.

“To clarify, there has been no denial from the MPS that this was the case, nor any deliberate intent to mislead. This is information that could only have been known as the investigation progressed as this was not known at the time of providing medical aid to Mr Tomlinson.

“It is only right and proper that any circumstances surrounding Mr Tomlinson's death form part of the thorough investigation by the IPCC.”

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