Ian Tomlinson death by Met
Despite all the convenient hoo-ha about a leader of the BNP going to a Buckingham Palace garden party and then getting banned and God knows what the fuss was about as it’s not the first time a right wing Nazi has been to the Palace........ But the story of the killing of Ian Tomlinson still just made the news.
It appears the story is still the same as was known at the time of Ian’s death, in that he was walking home at the end of his shift, he was called over to talk to the Met Police who were dealing with the G20 demonstrations, had a brief discussion with them, where he was told to move on and as he was walking away in the right direction to leave the area with his hands in his pocket, he was struck from behind with no warning by Simon Horwood, a member of the Metropolitan Police's territorial support group.
Now before I am accused of being a police hater, you should know I served firstly with the Army and then with military intelligence for three years in Northern Ireland in support of the RUC (police force). I lived in a police station for about a year and half and I have a lot of friends who work for the Met. I am no police hater.
The rules of engagement in the 1980’s were clear you could only engage (that means shot or strike) if you or those you were with were in clear danger and there was no other safe way of saving their life.
Ian was walking away with his hands in his pockets and was attacked from behind, so the rules of engagement were not followed.
The Met’s main excuse appears to be their officer was “charge up”.......but it’s a fact Simon Horwood meant to do harm, probably because he was having a bad day and has anger issues...
Can you imagine if an off duty police officer was walking to the tube on the day of the G20 demonstrations and I being a member of the public who had had a bad day (being “charged up”) hit the off duty officer from behind with a stick and he died right there on the street.
Would me being angry and in a bad mood or otherwise charged up, be a suitable defence?
I wonder if the CPS would say this:
“Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, said there was "no realistic prospect" of a conviction, because of a conflict between the post mortem examinations carried out after the death of a off duty policeman last year”
The ruling by the CPS not to prosecute is the most sickening, twisted thing I have ever seen.
It’s just plain wrong. The Met should be disbanded in shame and a new police force for London with a new name should be set up.
If I were the Prime Minister, there would be an independent investigation and if enough of us common folks partition are MP’s, that’s what we will get and then maybe Ian and his poor family will get justice.
Shocking day for what was once Great Britain.
Sad. And criminal. Police do sometimes abuse their authority and get away with it, even in a more civilized country such as England.
ReplyDeleteWe had our own notorious death-by-police event here in Portland, OR, US, a few years back, in which a homeless schizophrenic was brutally beaten for fleeing after police thought he might have urinated in the street. Pissing in the street isn't punishable by death even here. (Goggle: James Chasse. Twenty-six breaks in his ribs and a punctured lung, among other things.) After a inquiry that took three years, the police were found not criminally liable. But the city settled millions in the subsequent civil suits.
If there hadn't been a camera that collected video of the Tomlinson case, his death would have been considered a heart attack, since he got up and walked on.
I've watched the footage, and there was no call for the baton strike and shove -- the man was just walking along, he was no threat to anybody.
Manslaughter, at the very least.