Bye, Bye Boris

Well if anybody doubted my prediction of the End of Boris, The Great Buffoon of London, his disastrous walk about in Clapham yesterday with an embarrassed Home Secretary, Theresa May, looking on proved Boris is not fit for purpose. Bozza of course had been away on holiday for 3 days when London Burned. Theresa May halfway through Boris's bluster could take no more and walked away out of camera shot. I have long forecast that our old Etonian government of white-tied Bullingdon Club multi-millionaires would set the country on fire while they fiddled and now they have.







In many parts of the country there is a toxic pyre of seething resentment against racist policing, bigotry, institutionalised discrimination, and savage cuts in public services, mass unemployment and hopelessness. No meaningful political leadership exists in such places; no constructive channel exists for such rage to be heard. They are divorced from politics and the police who they both regard as corrupt and self serving. Consider the morality of the rioters and looters on the streets of Britain who look upon MP’s, Police and others to be ripping off the country for all it’s worth, so they may as well do the same? But are the Bullingdon Gang in any position to throw stones at the rioters, are they occupying a moral high ground?







There is of course a huge difference between the rioters and the Bullingdon Club Members such a “Call me Dave” Cameron, Boris Johnson and Gideon Osborne who now calls himself “George.” Each year, they paid around £10,000 of Daddy's money for membership of the Bullingdon Club. They'd dress up in special silly clothes (another few thousand pounds) and go on sprees of drinking and smashing. Because the club had a reputation for destroying restaurants then buying the owners' silence with wads of cash, the club had to go under false names to book rooms. So that was the difference; The Bullies would cover up their vandalism by throwing Daddy’s money at the screaming little people. I think it’s fair to say few of the rioter’s have been to posh schools, had cosy internships, gap years, adventure holidays and jobs arranged through family friends for them or even been on a Tuscan holiday.





The Bullingdon Gang



"The looting and arson last night were criminality, pure and simple. Justice will be done and the people will see the consequences for their crimes”



David Cameron, 2011







Proof of the lack of respect could be seen as crowds heckled Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg during a walkabout in Birmingham. Scores shouted "go home" before he was ushered into a waiting car. As the car left New Street some of those gathered heckle "go on, run, run run"." Disgraceful behaviour! Boris Johnson's first public appearance since the riots began has also been a bit of a disaster since he returned today early from a camper van holiday in Canada. He was heckled loudly in Clapham Junction, accused of racism and of failing the community.





Riots Brixton



Angry business owners in south London confronted Mayor Boris Johnson about a night of violence which saw shops smashed up and burned", says the BBC. Boris blustered on making more meaningless promises he couldn't keep. He said rioters would "face the full force of the law." Well just what is that in reality and will it have anything to do with Boris? Does he feel those arrested have not been already through the revolving doors of the "Justice" Gap system? He also said every shop will reopen. Once again something over which he has absoloutely no control - How will he pay to reopen them? By scrapping his £2 million a copy "Boris Buses" or his ludricous cable car which is HIS only transport initiative as Mayor? Maybe he is going to scrap their business rates (no he can't)and have and even bigger black hole in the GLA and TfL's finances. Unable to answer them, Boris turned and walked away. Exposed at last is the emptiness of a showman - a man who is all "style" and no substance who, when it comes to the crunch, is himself a vandal at heart. Politically, he's finished.





Rioting Croydon



In a crisis situation, who in their right mind thinks "Quick, get Boris Johnson, he's just the man we need!



"When you cut facilities, slash jobs, abuse power, discriminate, drive people into deeper poverty and shoot people dead whilst refusing to provide answers or justice, the people will rise up and express their anger and frustration if you refuse to hear their cries. A riot is the language of the unheard."



- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bye, Bye Boris

Well if anybody doubted my prediction of the End of Boris, The Great Buffoon of London, his disastrous walk about in Clapham yesterday with an embarrassed Home Secretary, Theresa May, looking on proved Boris is not fit for purpose. Bozza of course had been away on holiday for 3 days when London Burned. Theresa May halfway through Boris's bluster could take no more and walked away out of camera shot. I have long forecast that our old Etonian government of white-tied Bullingdon Club multi-millionaires would set the country on fire while they fiddled and now they have.







In many parts of the country there is a toxic pyre of seething resentment against racist policing, bigotry, institutionalised discrimination, and savage cuts in public services, mass unemployment and hopelessness. No meaningful political leadership exists in such places; no constructive channel exists for such rage to be heard. They are divorced from politics and the police who they both regard as corrupt and self serving. Consider the morality of the rioters and looters on the streets of Britain who look upon MP’s, Police and others to be ripping off the country for all it’s worth, so they may as well do the same? But are the Bullingdon Gang in any position to throw stones at the rioters, are they occupying a moral high ground?







There is of course a huge difference between the rioters and the Bullingdon Club Members such a “Call me Dave” Cameron, Boris Johnson and Gideon Osborne who now calls himself “George.” Each year, they paid around £10,000 of Daddy's money for membership of the Bullingdon Club. They'd dress up in special silly clothes (another few thousand pounds) and go on sprees of drinking and smashing. Because the club had a reputation for destroying restaurants then buying the owners' silence with wads of cash, the club had to go under false names to book rooms. So that was the difference; The Bullies would cover up their vandalism by throwing Daddy’s money at the screaming little people. I think it’s fair to say few of the rioter’s have been to posh schools, had cosy internships, gap years, adventure holidays and jobs arranged through family friends for them or even been on a Tuscan holiday.





The Bullingdon Gang



"The looting and arson last night were criminality, pure and simple. Justice will be done and the people will see the consequences for their crimes”



David Cameron, 2011







Proof of the lack of respect could be seen as crowds heckled Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg during a walkabout in Birmingham. Scores shouted "go home" before he was ushered into a waiting car. As the car left New Street some of those gathered heckle "go on, run, run run"." Disgraceful behaviour! Boris Johnson's first public appearance since the riots began has also been a bit of a disaster since he returned today early from a camper van holiday in Canada. He was heckled loudly in Clapham Junction, accused of racism and of failing the community.





Riots Brixton



Angry business owners in south London confronted Mayor Boris Johnson about a night of violence which saw shops smashed up and burned", says the BBC. Boris blustered on making more meaningless promises he couldn't keep. He said rioters would "face the full force of the law." Well just what is that in reality and will it have anything to do with Boris? Does he feel those arrested have not been already through the revolving doors of the "Justice" Gap system? He also said every shop will reopen. Once again something over which he has absoloutely no control - How will he pay to reopen them? By scrapping his £2 million a copy "Boris Buses" or his ludricous cable car which is HIS only transport initiative as Mayor? Maybe he is going to scrap their business rates (no he can't)and have and even bigger black hole in the GLA and TfL's finances. Unable to answer them, Boris turned and walked away. Exposed at last is the emptiness of a showman - a man who is all "style" and no substance who, when it comes to the crunch, is himself a vandal at heart. Politically, he's finished.





Rioting Croydon



In a crisis situation, who in their right mind thinks "Quick, get Boris Johnson, he's just the man we need!



"When you cut facilities, slash jobs, abuse power, discriminate, drive people into deeper poverty and shoot people dead whilst refusing to provide answers or justice, the people will rise up and express their anger and frustration if you refuse to hear their cries. A riot is the language of the unheard."



- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I agree with Nick!

I suspect in London tonight we have seen the end of High Visibility / Low Reality Policing by Call Centre & CCTV and publicity seeking campaigns. The Met Police is broke and not fit for purpose, not least because Boris The Great Buffoon of London has forced out two Commissioners.





Riots in Brixton



Good to see that Boris is now “rushing” back to London even though his day job doesn’t pay as much as the Daily Telegraph. No doubt his oration to the unsmiling Piccaninnies who have lost their watermelon smiles will become a modern classic. We are in safe hands.





Rioting in Hackney



Violence has broken out for a third consecutive day in London, with riot police deployed and fire-fighters tackling blazes across the capital. Shops were looted and buildings set alight as police clashed with youths. The trouble also spread outside London. Violence first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the fatal shooting of a man by police.





Fire started by rioters in Croydon



The prime minister is also returning early from holiday to chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra. David Cameron, who is on holiday in Italy, was due to board a flight on Monday night ahead of a meeting with Home Secretary Theresa May and Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Tim Godwin on Tuesday.



Fires and violence have also broken out in Lewisham, Peckham, Croydon and Clapham Junction. Looting has also taken place in Birmingham, while police in Liverpool have dealt with burning cars and criminal damage. More than 200 people have been arrested and 30 charged so far in relation to the three days of violence.







Yo! Maximum respect to Dave Cameron and De Eton Massive! It took Maggie's Gang over two years of attacking "Society" and de poor with de Poll Tax to have rioting on de streets. The Con Dem Gang with their reckless polarising policies have done it in only 15 Months! Aight me mate Dave!!

I agree with Nick!

I suspect in London tonight we have seen the end of High Visibility / Low Reality Policing by Call Centre & CCTV and publicity seeking campaigns. The Met Police is broke and not fit for purpose, not least because Boris The Great Buffoon of London has forced out two Commissioners.





Riots in Brixton



Good to see that Boris is now “rushing” back to London even though his day job doesn’t pay as much as the Daily Telegraph. No doubt his oration to the unsmiling Piccaninnies who have lost their watermelon smiles will become a modern classic. We are in safe hands.





Rioting in Hackney



Violence has broken out for a third consecutive day in London, with riot police deployed and fire-fighters tackling blazes across the capital. Shops were looted and buildings set alight as police clashed with youths. The trouble also spread outside London. Violence first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the fatal shooting of a man by police.





Fire started by rioters in Croydon



The prime minister is also returning early from holiday to chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra. David Cameron, who is on holiday in Italy, was due to board a flight on Monday night ahead of a meeting with Home Secretary Theresa May and Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Tim Godwin on Tuesday.



Fires and violence have also broken out in Lewisham, Peckham, Croydon and Clapham Junction. Looting has also taken place in Birmingham, while police in Liverpool have dealt with burning cars and criminal damage. More than 200 people have been arrested and 30 charged so far in relation to the three days of violence.







Yo! Maximum respect to Dave Cameron and De Eton Massive! It took Maggie's Gang over two years of attacking "Society" and de poor with de Poll Tax to have rioting on de streets. The Con Dem Gang with their reckless polarising policies have done it in only 15 Months! Aight me mate Dave!!

Tottenham Riots

It is amazing that over 15 hours after the most serious civil unrest in the UK for over 10 years there has been no appearances by any senior politician; not the PM, Deputy PM, Home Secretary or even Boris Johnson, the Great Buffoon of London. We are all in it together, unless you live in Tottenham? The same politicians who were wetting themselves to appear on TV within minutes when middle class student sons and daughters of their voters rioted in their backyard in Westminster two months ago have been totally absent today. As for Mayor Boris, who would turn up at the opening of an envelope to claim credit for other's achievements, where is he today? If he was being paid £10,000 an article by the Daily Telegraph he'd certainly turn up?


Boris Johnson, The Great Buffoon of London. Chief Political commentator for The Daily Telegraph and a Family Man according to his re-election site. Indeed.

This of course is one of the most deprived areas of London and even when not rioting doesn't appear to receive much attention. Like all such areas it is reeling under the ConDem's Coalitions savage cuts and indifference to the plight of the poor. These cuts are necessary of course so we can spend over £300 Million + bombing Libya and in London itself over £9 Billion ensuring we have an Olympics fit for commercial sponsors and the hordes of "VIPs" for which Zhil Lanes off limits to Londoners will be carved through the city.



More than 40 people have been arrested after rioting saw police attacked and buildings and vehicles set alight in Tottenham, north London. Overnight, 26 officers and three others were hurt in the violence which erupted after a protest over the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan on Thursday. Residents surveyed the damage after homes were looted and shops burnt down. I have deliberately steered clear of making a judgement on the shooting of Mark Duggan as we need to know the facts first. However this is not an area where the Metropolitan Police or the Independent Police Complaints Commission have a good record;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/05/any-justice-still-for-ian-tomlinson.html

Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy said: "A community that was already hurting has had its heart ripped out." The Metropolitan Police said two officers were still in hospital and three members of the public had been injured. More than 40 people remain in custody.



The BBC's Andy Moore said that since riots in 1985, relations between the local community and police had been generally good, but last week's shooting raised tensions. London Fire Brigade said all the fires were under control "at the moment" He said elements of the community were looking for instant answers but the investigation into Mr Duggan's death would be more long-term. A friend of Mr Duggan, who gave her name as Niki, 53, said those who had joined Saturday's protest, which began with a march from Broadwater Farm area, wanted "justice for the family".

Tottenham Riots

It is amazing that over 15 hours after the most serious civil unrest in the UK for over 10 years there has been no appearances by any senior politician; not the PM, Deputy PM, Home Secretary or even Boris Johnson, the Great Buffoon of London. We are all in it together, unless you live in Tottenham? The same politicians who were wetting themselves to appear on TV within minutes when middle class student sons and daughters of their voters rioted in their backyard in Westminster two months ago have been totally absent today. As for Mayor Boris, who would turn up at the opening of an envelope to claim credit for other's achievements, where is he today? If he was being paid £10,000 an article by the Daily Telegraph he'd certainly turn up?


Boris Johnson, The Great Buffoon of London. Chief Political commentator for The Daily Telegraph and a Family Man according to his re-election site. Indeed.

This of course is one of the most deprived areas of London and even when not rioting doesn't appear to receive much attention. Like all such areas it is reeling under the ConDem's Coalitions savage cuts and indifference to the plight of the poor. These cuts are necessary of course so we can spend over £300 Million + bombing Libya and in London itself over £9 Billion ensuring we have an Olympics fit for commercial sponsors and the hordes of "VIPs" for which Zhil Lanes off limits to Londoners will be carved through the city.



More than 40 people have been arrested after rioting saw police attacked and buildings and vehicles set alight in Tottenham, north London. Overnight, 26 officers and three others were hurt in the violence which erupted after a protest over the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan on Thursday. Residents surveyed the damage after homes were looted and shops burnt down. I have deliberately steered clear of making a judgement on the shooting of Mark Duggan as we need to know the facts first. However this is not an area where the Metropolitan Police or the Independent Police Complaints Commission have a good record;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/05/any-justice-still-for-ian-tomlinson.html

Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy said: "A community that was already hurting has had its heart ripped out." The Metropolitan Police said two officers were still in hospital and three members of the public had been injured. More than 40 people remain in custody.



The BBC's Andy Moore said that since riots in 1985, relations between the local community and police had been generally good, but last week's shooting raised tensions. London Fire Brigade said all the fires were under control "at the moment" He said elements of the community were looking for instant answers but the investigation into Mr Duggan's death would be more long-term. A friend of Mr Duggan, who gave her name as Niki, 53, said those who had joined Saturday's protest, which began with a march from Broadwater Farm area, wanted "justice for the family".

Any justice still for Ian Tomlinson?

Ian Tomlinson being treated by Paramedics - Scotland Yard wrongly claimed on their website that police were pelted with rocks and glass as he was being treated - They later took down the claim

PC Simon Harwood, a member of the Metropolitan Police's Territorial Support Group, used "excessive and unreasonable force" against Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests in London on 1st April 2009, a jury has decided and they found that the newspaper seller had been unlawfully killed. To reach an unlawful killing conclusion in English Law the jury were required to have been satisfied to a higher burden of proof than the other possible verdicts, which could have been reached "on the balance of probabilities". They had to be convinced "beyond reasonable doubt", the same threshold used in criminal trials.


Ian Tomlinson walking past the police before he was struck

Tomlinson, a 47-year-old father of nine, had been trying to walk home from work through the demonstrations near the Bank of England on the evening he died. An alcoholic, he had been drinking heavily and was looking vacant and confused as he was repeatedly turned away from police cordons. At 7.20pm he stumbled on to Royal Exchange Buildings, a passage police had been ordered to clear. Tomlinson had his hands in his pockets and was walking away from police when he was struck with a baton and pushed from behind by Harwood.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/07/ian-tomlinson.html

Now, there are many strange stories to be told in relation to the sad and needless death of Ian Tomlinson who is no longer alive due to the actions of those who should protect us.

There is the story of a Met Police Officer who resigned rather than face disciplinary proceedings relating to a road rage incident, later joined Surrey Police as a civilian worker, applied and was accepted as a Police Officer and then transferred back to the Metropolitan Police?

There is the story of the same Police Officer who in the 17 minutes prior to assaulting Ian Tomlinson had roughly arrested a protester for graffiti to a Police vehicle, had assaulted from behind and thrown to the ground a BBC cameraman before attacking Ian Tomlinson who was walking away and posing no threat, all in view of fellow officers all sworn to uphold the law and "The Queen's Peace"?

This is the story of a Home Office pathologist Freddy Patel, who’s verdict on the cause of death (heart attack) was different to two other highly respected pathologists. Dr. Patel has since been struck off the medical register for misconduct in two previous cases where he acted as a Home Office pathologist. The Crown Prosecution Service justified its decision not to prosecute PC Simon Harwood as they said Patel's findings would provide a jury with enough reasonable doubt that the attack by the officer contributed to the death?



This is the story of Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, acknowledging there was evidence that the officer assaulted Tomlinson minutes before he died, but saying there was no realistic prospect of conviction because of "sharp disagreements" between pathologists?

This is the story of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) saying it could not bring an assault charge because such a charge must be brought within six months, and it had taken 11 months to reach a decision, due to delays by the Police in submitting evidence?

This is not a story not of a single rogue officer but of a Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) which denied the true version of events until citizens and photographers who were indiscrimately “kettled” with protesters proved that the version of events circulated by the MPS was a pack of lies?


Ian Tomlinson being helped by a member of the public just after he was assaulted by PC Simon Harwood circled in the background. Police initially claimed they went to his assistance when he became ill and they had no previous contact with him

At first, the police strenuously denied any involvement with Tomlinson prior to his collapse. Witness statements immediately contested the police position. But it was the video footage shot by Chris La Jaunie and passed to the Guardian Newspaper that proved Tomlinson had been struck and pushed to the ground by a police officer. Were it not for this visual evidence, the Metropolitan police service (MPS) would have successfully denied and defused allegations of police violence, as it has on so many occasions in the past.

The police officer who attacked Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests could be prosecuted for manslaughter after an inquest jury ruled that he unlawfully killed the newspaper seller. Returning their verdict after three hours of deliberation, jurors said Tomlinson died of internal bleeding in the abdomen after being struck with a baton and pushed to the ground by the officer.

The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, immediately said he would "review" his decision last July not year not to prosecute Harwood. There were shouts of "yes" from Tomlinson's family when the jury confirmed their verdict that he was unlawfully killed. For legal reasons, the verdict did not name the officer, Metropolitan police constable Simon Harwood. However, they said that "excessive and unreasonable" force was used when he struck the newspaper vendor who "posed no threat".


A police cordon during the G20 summit protests. Thousands of protesters had been "kettled" by cordons as Tomlinson was trying to make his way home.

The family's lawyer, Jules Cary, said: "Today's decision is a huge relief to Mr Tomlinson's family. To many, today's verdict will seem like a statement of the blindingly obvious, however this fails to take account of the significant and many obstacles faced by the family over the last two years to get to this decision." Today's verdict brings to an end a two-year wait for Tomlinson's family, who maintain police attempted to cover up officers' involvement in his death.



Let us think how it would have happened if it was the other way around? If a police officer had been assaulted by a protestor and died minutes later. Would there have been “mistakes” in collecting evidence which meant charges were time expired? Would they have waited 16 months to decide not to prosecute? The police are paid from our taxes to protect us not to kill us. They must operate with our consent and within the Law and they must be held accountable.

Before we get too excited at the possibility of judicial accountability for the death of a harmless slightly sozzled newspaper vendor who was wandering public streets just minding his own business and trying to find his way home consider this. Despite over 1,000 people dying in police custody or due to police action since the late 1960s if the police officer who the DPP said had assaulted Ian Tomlinson was charged with manslaughter it would have been the first time this has ever happened in Britain. Ask yourself the simple question - what is the statistical possibility that these over 1,000 human beings who died in police custody or as a result of police action were all killed lawfully? I suspect you would get a better answer to this question from bookmaker Paddy Power than you would from the Metropolitan Police Service, Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, or the myriad other per functionaries paid out of our taxes to protect us.

This is the story of an institutionally violent Police Force whose members believe they can behave in this manner with impunity? This is the story of one law for the Police and a different law for the public? This is the story of collusion to ensure Police Officers who commit crimes on duty are not held to account? This is the story of an innocent victim whose family are still searching for justice?

The Guardian Newspaper obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protest in London shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police.

Any justice still for Ian Tomlinson?

Ian Tomlinson being treated by Paramedics - Scotland Yard wrongly claimed on their website that police were pelted with rocks and glass as he was being treated - They later took down the claim

PC Simon Harwood, a member of the Metropolitan Police's Territorial Support Group, used "excessive and unreasonable force" against Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests in London on 1st April 2009, a jury has decided and they found that the newspaper seller had been unlawfully killed. To reach an unlawful killing conclusion in English Law the jury were required to have been satisfied to a higher burden of proof than the other possible verdicts, which could have been reached "on the balance of probabilities". They had to be convinced "beyond reasonable doubt", the same threshold used in criminal trials.


Ian Tomlinson walking past the police before he was struck

Tomlinson, a 47-year-old father of nine, had been trying to walk home from work through the demonstrations near the Bank of England on the evening he died. An alcoholic, he had been drinking heavily and was looking vacant and confused as he was repeatedly turned away from police cordons. At 7.20pm he stumbled on to Royal Exchange Buildings, a passage police had been ordered to clear. Tomlinson had his hands in his pockets and was walking away from police when he was struck with a baton and pushed from behind by Harwood.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/07/ian-tomlinson.html

Now, there are many strange stories to be told in relation to the sad and needless death of Ian Tomlinson who is no longer alive due to the actions of those who should protect us.

There is the story of a Met Police Officer who resigned rather than face disciplinary proceedings relating to a road rage incident, later joined Surrey Police as a civilian worker, applied and was accepted as a Police Officer and then transferred back to the Metropolitan Police?

There is the story of the same Police Officer who in the 17 minutes prior to assaulting Ian Tomlinson had roughly arrested a protester for graffiti to a Police vehicle, had assaulted from behind and thrown to the ground a BBC cameraman before attacking Ian Tomlinson who was walking away and posing no threat, all in view of fellow officers all sworn to uphold the law and "The Queen's Peace"?

This is the story of a Home Office pathologist Freddy Patel, who’s verdict on the cause of death (heart attack) was different to two other highly respected pathologists. Dr. Patel has since been struck off the medical register for misconduct in two previous cases where he acted as a Home Office pathologist. The Crown Prosecution Service justified its decision not to prosecute PC Simon Harwood as they said Patel's findings would provide a jury with enough reasonable doubt that the attack by the officer contributed to the death?



This is the story of Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, acknowledging there was evidence that the officer assaulted Tomlinson minutes before he died, but saying there was no realistic prospect of conviction because of "sharp disagreements" between pathologists?

This is the story of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) saying it could not bring an assault charge because such a charge must be brought within six months, and it had taken 11 months to reach a decision, due to delays by the Police in submitting evidence?

This is not a story not of a single rogue officer but of a Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) which denied the true version of events until citizens and photographers who were indiscrimately “kettled” with protesters proved that the version of events circulated by the MPS was a pack of lies?


Ian Tomlinson being helped by a member of the public just after he was assaulted by PC Simon Harwood circled in the background. Police initially claimed they went to his assistance when he became ill and they had no previous contact with him

At first, the police strenuously denied any involvement with Tomlinson prior to his collapse. Witness statements immediately contested the police position. But it was the video footage shot by Chris La Jaunie and passed to the Guardian Newspaper that proved Tomlinson had been struck and pushed to the ground by a police officer. Were it not for this visual evidence, the Metropolitan police service (MPS) would have successfully denied and defused allegations of police violence, as it has on so many occasions in the past.

The police officer who attacked Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests could be prosecuted for manslaughter after an inquest jury ruled that he unlawfully killed the newspaper seller. Returning their verdict after three hours of deliberation, jurors said Tomlinson died of internal bleeding in the abdomen after being struck with a baton and pushed to the ground by the officer.

The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, immediately said he would "review" his decision last July not year not to prosecute Harwood. There were shouts of "yes" from Tomlinson's family when the jury confirmed their verdict that he was unlawfully killed. For legal reasons, the verdict did not name the officer, Metropolitan police constable Simon Harwood. However, they said that "excessive and unreasonable" force was used when he struck the newspaper vendor who "posed no threat".


A police cordon during the G20 summit protests. Thousands of protesters had been "kettled" by cordons as Tomlinson was trying to make his way home.

The family's lawyer, Jules Cary, said: "Today's decision is a huge relief to Mr Tomlinson's family. To many, today's verdict will seem like a statement of the blindingly obvious, however this fails to take account of the significant and many obstacles faced by the family over the last two years to get to this decision." Today's verdict brings to an end a two-year wait for Tomlinson's family, who maintain police attempted to cover up officers' involvement in his death.



Let us think how it would have happened if it was the other way around? If a police officer had been assaulted by a protestor and died minutes later. Would there have been “mistakes” in collecting evidence which meant charges were time expired? Would they have waited 16 months to decide not to prosecute? The police are paid from our taxes to protect us not to kill us. They must operate with our consent and within the Law and they must be held accountable.

Before we get too excited at the possibility of judicial accountability for the death of a harmless slightly sozzled newspaper vendor who was wandering public streets just minding his own business and trying to find his way home consider this. Despite over 1,000 people dying in police custody or due to police action since the late 1960s if the police officer who the DPP said had assaulted Ian Tomlinson was charged with manslaughter it would have been the first time this has ever happened in Britain. Ask yourself the simple question - what is the statistical possibility that these over 1,000 human beings who died in police custody or as a result of police action were all killed lawfully? I suspect you would get a better answer to this question from bookmaker Paddy Power than you would from the Metropolitan Police Service, Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, or the myriad other per functionaries paid out of our taxes to protect us.

This is the story of an institutionally violent Police Force whose members believe they can behave in this manner with impunity? This is the story of one law for the Police and a different law for the public? This is the story of collusion to ensure Police Officers who commit crimes on duty are not held to account? This is the story of an innocent victim whose family are still searching for justice?

The Guardian Newspaper obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protest in London shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police.

Death of Ian Tomlinson

Ian Tomlinson being treated by Paramedics - Scotland Yard wrongly claimed on their website that police were pelted with rocks and glass as he was being treated - They later took down the claim

There is outrage in the UK that yet again there is one law for the public and another law for the police. An official decision to bring no charges against the policeman who struck Ian Tomlinson minutes before he died at the G20 protests came under intense scrutiny as it emerged that the Independent Police Complaints Commission had backed a prosecution for manslaughter.

Yesterday on the 22nd July, on the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) presented their report into the death of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller killed in the City of London as he tried to make his way home past the police during the G20 protests on 1 April 2009.

Ian Tomlinson (1961/62 – 1 April 2009) was a British newspaper vendor who died in the City of London, London's financial district, during the 2009 G-20 London summit protests on his way home from work. A first post-mortem indicated that he had suffered a heart attack because of coronary artery disease, and had died of natural causes.


Ian Tomlinson walking past the police before he was struck

His death became controversial a week later when The Guardian Newspaper obtained video footage, taken by an investment fund manager from New York, showing that Tomlinson, who was not a protester, had been struck on the leg from behind by a police officer wielding a baton, then pushed to the ground by the same officer. The footage showed no provocation on Tomlinson's part, who at the time was walking along with his hands in his pockets. Dressed in a bright yellow reflective jacket, black uniform and helmet, Pc Harwood’s identity number was covered up and he had a scarf across the lower part of his face.

Let us now pause and toy with a remarkable statistic. Despite over 1,000 people dying in police custody or due to police action since the late 1960s if the police officer who the DPP said had assaulted Ian Tomlinson was charged with manslaughter it would have been the first time this has ever happened in Britain. Ask yourself the simple question - what is the statistical possibility that these over 1,000 human beings who died in police custody or as a result of police action were all killed lawfully? They include Blair Peach killed (according to the police’s own investigation) by a TSG member at an anti-racism demonstration in 1979, Jean Charles de Menezes shot with 3 bullets in the brain 5 years ago, Sean Rigg and Joy Gardiner who died in police stations and Harry Stanley, 46, from Hackney, east London, was shot in the head and the hand by the Met officers in 1999 carrying a chair leg in a plastic bag which the two officers thought was a sawn-off shot gun.


Ian Tomlinson being helped by a member of the public just after he was assaulted by PC Simon Harwood circled in the background. Police initially claimed they went to his assistance when he became ill and they had no previous contact with him

Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, acknowledged there was evidence that the officer, named as PC Simon Harwood, assaulted Tomlinson minutes before he died. But he said there was no realistic prospect of conviction because of "sharp disagreements" between pathologists. He said the police officer captured on film striking Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests in London will not face criminal charges over his death because of conflicting opinions about the cause of death. Dr Freddy Patel conducted the first post-mortem on Mr Tomlinson's body and ruled he had died of a heart attack. That was contradicted by two subsequent post-mortems, which both found that the 47-year-old died of internal bleeding caused by a blow to the abdomen.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) also said it could not bring an assault charge because such a charge must be brought within six months, and it had taken 11 months to reach a decision. A charge of misconduct in public office was also considered, but rejected. But a direct challenge to the CPS also emerged tonight from Dr Nat Cary, the second forensic pathologist who examined Tomlinson's body. He told the Guardian prosecutors made a factual error in dismissing a charge of actual bodily harm. He said his report contained clear evidence that Tomlinson suffered injuries sufficient to support a charge of ABH. But the CPS dismissed the injuries as "relatively minor" and thus not enough to support a charge of ABH in its written reasons given to the family.

Cary, speaking for the first time about the case, told the Guardian: "I'm quite happy to challenge that. No the injuries were not relatively minor. It is a flawed approach. He sustained quite a large area of bruising. Such injuries are consistent with a baton strike, which could amount to ABH. It's extraordinary. If that's not ABH I would like to know what is."

The CPS said Patel's findings would provide a jury with enough reasonable doubt that the attack by the officer contributed to the death, and as a result they would acquit. By coincidence Patel today faced a disciplinary hearing at the General Medical Council for allegedly conducting four other autopsies incompetently. He could be struck off and the Home Office has suspended him from its approved list.

See details in the Daily Telegaph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/g20-summit/7904804/G20-riots-profile-of-Dr-Freddy-Patel.html


A police cordon during the G20 summit protests. Thousands of protesters had been "kettled" by cordons as Tomlinson was trying to make his way home.

But another entirely strange aspect of this tragic case emerged today. Pc Simon Harwood, 43, retired from the Met a decade ago on ill health grounds while facing a misconduct hearing for an alleged road rage incident. The officer was working for the Met during the 1990s when he was accused of a road rage incident while off duty, but retired on health grounds. He then rejoined the force as a civilian computer worker, before moving to Surrey Police as a Pc after passing a medical and vetting process, during which it is understood that he made a full disclosure of his background. He moved back to the Met in November 2004 and later given a place in the force's controversial Territorial Support Group (TSG) unit. The TSG are referred to by other police officers by their nickname “The Filth” as they have a fearsome reputation as “hardmen” even within the police service and officers who have “aggression issues” are often taken off front line policing and assigned to the TSG. One commentator asked why PC Harwood was facilitated in rejoining the service, a very good question which deserves a very good answer. Was he a brother Mason, perhaps?

Let us think how it would have happened if it was the other way around? If a police officer had been assaulted by a protestor and died minutes later. Would there have been “mistakes” in collecting evidence which meant charges were time expired? Would they have waited 16 months to decide not to prosecute? The police are paid from our taxes to protect us not to kill us. They must operate with our consent and within the Law and they must be held accountable.

The DPP decision in the Ian Tomlinson case is a whitewash which destroys confidence in the police and in the Rule of Law. No matter how much the Police talk about a new era of policing and enshrining the right to protest, the establishment has once again have allowed police officers to kill an innocent man.


The Guardian obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police.

See also;

Jean Charles de Menezes

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/death-in-london.html

Remember Sean Rigg

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/08/remember-sean-rigg.html

Ian Tomlinson on Wikipedia

For an update (May 2011) on the Ian Tomlinson case see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/05/any-justice-still-for-ian-tomlinson.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ian_Tomlinson

Vigil for Ian Tomlinson

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/11/tuesday-candlelight-vigil-to-remember.html

Death of Ian Tomlinson

Ian Tomlinson being treated by Paramedics - Scotland Yard wrongly claimed on their website that police were pelted with rocks and glass as he was being treated - They later took down the claim

There is outrage in the UK that yet again there is one law for the public and another law for the police. An official decision to bring no charges against the policeman who struck Ian Tomlinson minutes before he died at the G20 protests came under intense scrutiny as it emerged that the Independent Police Complaints Commission had backed a prosecution for manslaughter.

Yesterday on the 22nd July, on the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) presented their report into the death of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller killed in the City of London as he tried to make his way home past the police during the G20 protests on 1 April 2009.

Ian Tomlinson (1961/62 – 1 April 2009) was a British newspaper vendor who died in the City of London, London's financial district, during the 2009 G-20 London summit protests on his way home from work. A first post-mortem indicated that he had suffered a heart attack because of coronary artery disease, and had died of natural causes.


Ian Tomlinson walking past the police before he was struck

His death became controversial a week later when The Guardian Newspaper obtained video footage, taken by an investment fund manager from New York, showing that Tomlinson, who was not a protester, had been struck on the leg from behind by a police officer wielding a baton, then pushed to the ground by the same officer. The footage showed no provocation on Tomlinson's part, who at the time was walking along with his hands in his pockets. Dressed in a bright yellow reflective jacket, black uniform and helmet, Pc Harwood’s identity number was covered up and he had a scarf across the lower part of his face.

Let us now pause and toy with a remarkable statistic. Despite over 1,000 people dying in police custody or due to police action since the late 1960s if the police officer who the DPP said had assaulted Ian Tomlinson was charged with manslaughter it would have been the first time this has ever happened in Britain. Ask yourself the simple question - what is the statistical possibility that these over 1,000 human beings who died in police custody or as a result of police action were all killed lawfully? They include Blair Peach killed (according to the police’s own investigation) by a TSG member at an anti-racism demonstration in 1979, Jean Charles de Menezes shot with 3 bullets in the brain 5 years ago, Sean Rigg and Joy Gardiner who died in police stations and Harry Stanley, 46, from Hackney, east London, was shot in the head and the hand by the Met officers in 1999 carrying a chair leg in a plastic bag which the two officers thought was a sawn-off shot gun.


Ian Tomlinson being helped by a member of the public just after he was assaulted by PC Simon Harwood circled in the background. Police initially claimed they went to his assistance when he became ill and they had no previous contact with him

Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, acknowledged there was evidence that the officer, named as PC Simon Harwood, assaulted Tomlinson minutes before he died. But he said there was no realistic prospect of conviction because of "sharp disagreements" between pathologists. He said the police officer captured on film striking Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests in London will not face criminal charges over his death because of conflicting opinions about the cause of death. Dr Freddy Patel conducted the first post-mortem on Mr Tomlinson's body and ruled he had died of a heart attack. That was contradicted by two subsequent post-mortems, which both found that the 47-year-old died of internal bleeding caused by a blow to the abdomen.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) also said it could not bring an assault charge because such a charge must be brought within six months, and it had taken 11 months to reach a decision. A charge of misconduct in public office was also considered, but rejected. But a direct challenge to the CPS also emerged tonight from Dr Nat Cary, the second forensic pathologist who examined Tomlinson's body. He told the Guardian prosecutors made a factual error in dismissing a charge of actual bodily harm. He said his report contained clear evidence that Tomlinson suffered injuries sufficient to support a charge of ABH. But the CPS dismissed the injuries as "relatively minor" and thus not enough to support a charge of ABH in its written reasons given to the family.

Cary, speaking for the first time about the case, told the Guardian: "I'm quite happy to challenge that. No the injuries were not relatively minor. It is a flawed approach. He sustained quite a large area of bruising. Such injuries are consistent with a baton strike, which could amount to ABH. It's extraordinary. If that's not ABH I would like to know what is."

The CPS said Patel's findings would provide a jury with enough reasonable doubt that the attack by the officer contributed to the death, and as a result they would acquit. By coincidence Patel today faced a disciplinary hearing at the General Medical Council for allegedly conducting four other autopsies incompetently. He could be struck off and the Home Office has suspended him from its approved list.

See details in the Daily Telegaph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/g20-summit/7904804/G20-riots-profile-of-Dr-Freddy-Patel.html


A police cordon during the G20 summit protests. Thousands of protesters had been "kettled" by cordons as Tomlinson was trying to make his way home.

But another entirely strange aspect of this tragic case emerged today. Pc Simon Harwood, 43, retired from the Met a decade ago on ill health grounds while facing a misconduct hearing for an alleged road rage incident. The officer was working for the Met during the 1990s when he was accused of a road rage incident while off duty, but retired on health grounds. He then rejoined the force as a civilian computer worker, before moving to Surrey Police as a Pc after passing a medical and vetting process, during which it is understood that he made a full disclosure of his background. He moved back to the Met in November 2004 and later given a place in the force's controversial Territorial Support Group (TSG) unit. The TSG are referred to by other police officers by their nickname “The Filth” as they have a fearsome reputation as “hardmen” even within the police service and officers who have “aggression issues” are often taken off front line policing and assigned to the TSG. One commentator asked why PC Harwood was facilitated in rejoining the service, a very good question which deserves a very good answer. Was he a brother Mason, perhaps?

Let us think how it would have happened if it was the other way around? If a police officer had been assaulted by a protestor and died minutes later. Would there have been “mistakes” in collecting evidence which meant charges were time expired? Would they have waited 16 months to decide not to prosecute? The police are paid from our taxes to protect us not to kill us. They must operate with our consent and within the Law and they must be held accountable.

The DPP decision in the Ian Tomlinson case is a whitewash which destroys confidence in the police and in the Rule of Law. No matter how much the Police talk about a new era of policing and enshrining the right to protest, the establishment has once again have allowed police officers to kill an innocent man.


The Guardian obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police.

See also;

Jean Charles de Menezes

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/death-in-london.html

Remember Sean Rigg

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/08/remember-sean-rigg.html

Ian Tomlinson on Wikipedia

For an update (May 2011) on the Ian Tomlinson case see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/05/any-justice-still-for-ian-tomlinson.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ian_Tomlinson

Vigil for Ian Tomlinson

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/11/tuesday-candlelight-vigil-to-remember.html