Ian Tomlinson (7February 1962– 1April 2009) was a newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after being struck by a police officer during the 2009 G20 London summit protests. After an inquest jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing, the officer, Simon Harwood, was prosecuted for manslaughter. He was found not guilty but was dismissed from the police service for gross misconduct.Peter Walker, Paul Lewis, "Ian Tomlinson death: Simon Harwood cleared of manslaughter" , The Guardian, 19 July 2012.Peter Walker, "Ian Tomlinson case: PC Simon Harwood sacked for gross misconduct" , The Guardian, 17 September 2012. Following civil proceedings, the Metropolitan Police Service paid Tomlinson's family an undisclosed sum and acknowledged that Harwood's actions had caused Tomlinson's death.Matthew Taylor, "Ian Tomlinson's family win apology from Met police over death in 2009" , The Guardian, 5 August 2013.
The first post-mortem concluded that Tomlinson had suffered a heart attack, but a week later The Guardian published a video of Harwood, a constable with London's Metropolitan Police, striking Tomlinson with a baton from behind, across the right hand side of his abdomen, then pushing him to the ground. Tomlinson was not a protester, and at the time he was struck he was trying to make his way home through the police cordons. He walked a short distance after the incident, but collapsed and died several minutes later.Paul Lewis, "Ian Tomlinson death: Guardian video reveals police attack on man who died at G20 protest" , The Guardian, 7 April 2009.
After the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) began a criminal inquiry, further post-mortems indicated that Tomlinson had died from internal bleeding caused by blunt force trauma to the abdomen, in association with cirrhosis of the liver. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to charge Harwood, because the disagreement between the first and later pathologists meant they could not show a causal link between the death and alleged assault. That position changed in 2011; after the verdict of unlawful killing, the CPS charged Harwood with manslaughter. He was acquitted in 2012 and dismissed from the service a few months later.
Tomlinson's death sparked a debate in the UK about the relationship between the police, media and public, and the independence of the IPCC.Sarah Lyall, "Critics Assail British Police for Harsh Tactics During the G-20 Summit Meeting" , The New York Times, 30 May 2009. In response to the concerns, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Denis O'Connor, published a 150-page report in November 2009 that aimed to restore Britain's consent-based model of policing. PC Simon Harwood had previously been a constable in the Avon & Somerset Constabulary, but had resigned days before a misconduct hearing against him, arising from a complaint of excessive violence used during a road rage incident.
Background Ian Tomlinson Tomlinson was born to Jim and Ann Tomlinson in Matlock, Derbyshire. He moved to London when he was 17 to work as a scaffolder. At the time of his death, at the age of 47, he was working casually as a vendor for the Evening Standard, London's evening newspaper.Robert Booth, "Friends of G20 protests victim shocked by loss of 'lovable man'" , The Guardian, 8 April 2009. Married twice with nine children, including stepchildren, Tomlinson had a history of alcoholism, as a result of which he had been living apart from his second wife, Julia, for 13 years, and had experienced long periods of homelessness. From 2008 onwards, Tomlinson had been staying in the Lindsey Hotel, a shelter for the homeless on Lindsey Street, Smithfield, EC1."G20 death video 'touches' family", BBC News, 8 April 2008.Jon Swaine, "G20 death: Police gave Ian Tomlinson a 'good beating', says his father", The Daily Telegraph, 10 April 2009."Ian Tomlinson profile: homeless alcoholic who was not even part of G20 protests" , The Daily Telegraph, 29 March 2011. At the time of his death, he was walking across London's financial district in an effort to reach the Lindsey Hotel, his way hampered at several points by police lines. The route he took was his usual way home from a newspaper stand on Fish Street Hill outside Monument tube station, where he worked with a friend, Barry Smith."Millwall fan dies during G20 riots", South London Press, 6 April 2009.
London police, IPCC
With over 31,000 officers at the time, the Metropolitan Police Service (the Met) was the largest police force in the United Kingdom,"About the Metropolitan Police Service" , Metropolitan Police. responsible for policing Greater London (except for the financial district, the City of London, which has its own force, the City of London Police). The Met's commissioner at the time was Sir Paul Stephenson; the City of London Police commissioner was Mike Bowron. Responsibility for supervising the Met falls to the Metropolitan Police Authority, chaired by the Mayor of London, at the time Boris Johnson.Richard Edwards, "G20 to be most expensive police operation in British history", The Daily Telegraph, 20 March 2009.
The officer seen pushing Tomlinson was a constable with the Met's Territorial Support Group (TSG), identified by the "U" on their shoulder numbers. The TSG specializes in public-order policing, wearing military-style helmets, flame-retardant overalls, stab vests and balaclavas. Their operational commander at the time was Chief Superintendent Mick Johnson.Jon Swaine, "G20 death: what is the Metropolitan Police's Territorial Support Group?", 9 April 2009.Sandra Laville, "Specialist protest squads at centre of investigations into G20 police violence" , The Guardian, 16 April 2010.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) began to operate in 2004; its chair when Tomlinson died was Nick Hardwick. Created by the Police Reform Act 2002, the commission replaced the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) following public dissatisfaction with the latter's relationship with the police. Unlike the PCA, the IPCC operates independently of the Home Office, which is the Government department responsible for criminal justice and policing in England and Wales."How well does the IPCC police the police?", BBC News, 18 January 2010.
Operation Glencoe
The G20 security operation, codenamed "Operation Glencoe", was a "Benbow operation", which meant the Met, City of London Police and the British Transport Police worked under one Gold commander, in this case Bob Broadhurst of the Met."Operation Glencoe policing and security for the G20 London Summit" , Metropolitan Police Service, 2 April 2009.
There were six protests on 1 April 2009: a security operation at ExCeL London, a Stop the War march, a Free Tibet protest outside the Chinese Embassy, a People & Planet protest, a Climate Camp protest, and a protest outside the Bank of England. Over 4,000 protesters were at the Climate Camp and the same number at the Bank of England. On 1 April over 5,500 police officers were deployed and the following day 2,800, at a cost of £7.2 million. Officers worked 14-hour shifts. They ended at midnight, slept on the floor of police stations, were not given a chance to eat, and were back on duty at 7 am. This was viewed as having contributed to the difficulties they faced.Denis O'Connor, Adapting to protest, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, 2009 (hereafter O'Connor 2009), cover page, pp. 22 (for number of police), p. 23 (for number of protesters and four different security operations), p. 33 (for 14-hour shifts and sleeping on floor).For cost, "Police warn of G20 protest scale", BBC News, 20 March 2009.
The Bank of England protesters were held in place from 12:30 pm until 7:00 pm using a process police called "containment" and the media called "kettling"—corralling protesters into small spaces until the police dispersed them.Paul Lewis, Sandra Laville, "G20 police authorised to use reasonable force minutes before Tomlinson died" , The Guardian, 7 July 2009; O'Connor 2009, p. 23. At 7:00 pm senior officers decided that "reasonable force" could be used to disperse the protesters around the bank.Paul Lewis, Sandra Laville, "G20 police authorised to use reasonable force minutes before Tomlinson died" , The Guardian, 7 July 2009. Between 7:10 and 7:40 pm the crowd surged toward the police, missiles were thrown, and the police pushed back with their shields. Scuffles broke out and arrests were made. This was the situation Tomlinson wandered into as he tried to make his way home.O'Connor 2009, Annex D, p. 79, for when police began to disperse the crowd.
Incident Earlier encounter with police
Several newspapers published images of Tomlinson's first encounter with police that evening. According to Barry Smith, Tomlinson left the newspaper stand outside Monument Tube Station at around 7:00pm.David Brown, "Ian Tomlinson: 'See you tomorrow, Barry, if I'm still living and breathing'" , The Times, 9 April 2009. An eyewitness, IT worker Ross Hardy, said Tomlinson was on Lombard Street, drunk and refusing to move; a police van nudged him on the back of the legs, Hardy said, and when that did not work he was moved by four police officers wearing personal protective equipment. On 16 April The Guardian published three images of Tomlinson on Lombard Street.Tomlinson photograph 1 , photograph 2 , photograph 3 , The Guardian, 16 April 2009.Paul Lewis, "New Ian Tomlinson photos show police contact before video clash" , The Guardian, 16 April 2009.
Tomlinson stayed on Lombard Street for another half-hour, then made his way to King William Street, toward two lines of police cordons, where police had "kettled" thousands of protesters near the Bank of England. At 7:10 pm he doubled back on himself, walking up and down Change Alley where he encountered more cordons. Five minutes later he was on Lombard Street again, crossed it, walked down Birchin Lane, and reached Cornhill at 7:10–7:15 pm.
A few minutes later Tomlinson was at the northern end of a pedestrian precinct, Royal Exchange Passage (formally called Royal Exchange Buildings), near the junction with Threadneedle Street, where a further police cordon stopped him from proceeding. He turned to walk south along Royal Exchange Passage instead, where, minutes before he arrived, officers had clashed with up to 25 protesters. Riot police from the Met's TSG, accompanied by City of London police dog handlers, had arrived there from the cordon in Threadneedle Street to help their colleagues.
Encounter with officer
Police officers followed Tomlinson as he walked along the street. He headed towards Threadneedle Street, but again ran into police cordons and doubled back on himself towards Cornhill.Caroline Gammell, "G20: The last moments of Ian Tomlinson", The Daily Telegraph, 18 April 2009. According to a CPS report, he was bitten on the leg by a police dog at 7:15pm, when a dog handler tried to move him out of the way, but he appeared not to react to it."CPS statement on the death of Ian Tomlinson" , The Guardian, 22 July 2010.
The same group of officers approached Tomlinson outside a Montblanc store at the southern end of Royal Exchange Passage, near the junction with Cornhill. He was walking slowly with his hands in his pockets; according to an eyewitness, he was saying that he was trying to get home.Paul Lewis, "The helper: Ian Tomlinson was obeying police orders, says G20 protester" , The Guardian, 9 April 2009.