Monday 29 June 2009

Family reaction to Home Affairs Committee report

The family of Ian Tomlinson, who died following being injured by Police at the G20 protests in London on April 1st, have spoken out today in response to a Home Affairs Committee Report investigating policing tactics used on the day.

Julia Tomlinson said today:

"I feel very upset by the report. It refers to Ian collapsing but does not mention the video evidence showing that he was struck, even though it says that Nicola Fisher was hit with a baton. From the report it looks like Ian never had contact with the police. It’s like we’re back to the first statement the Metropolitan Police gave out after Ian died before the footage from Royal Exchange was shown.

The report seems to say that if there was any violence at the protest it is was because officers were untrained, inexperienced and frightened. This is not what I see when I see the video footage of Ian or Nicola Fisher.

The report seems to be all about how the police need to look after their image. It says that police officers need to watch how they behave because they are being filmed. It should be their behaviour rather than the camera that is the issue.

One of the things in the report that does make sense is that there is no excuse for the police preventing people innocently caught up in a protest from leaving a “contained” area”. Ian was trying to leave the area and got stopped at no less that three police blocks before he was stopped by the line police officers coming down Royal Exchange. Had officers allowed him out of the area on any of those occasions he would not be dead now."

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