Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Ian Tomlinson - Tragedy turns into farce

Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry with the latest developments in the Ian Tomlinson case. For those who do not know Tomlinson died just minutes after being assaulted by police during the G20 summit meeting in London at the beginning of the month. Since then the London Metrpolitan Police have mounted a cover up campaign that has, thankfully, been carried out with Keystone Cop efficiency. Silence, evasion, misdirection and stonewalling have characterised their approach to the case. In addition the Independent Police Complaints Commission have just added to the farce surrounding the death.

At first the police failed to mention any connection between their officers and the death of the unfortunate 47 year - old newspaper seller. Then, when footage came out on the Guardian website showing the assault they attempted to get the video pulled. If that was not enough the IPCC said that there was no CCTV coverage of the event, only to have that absurd claim (we're talking about the heart of London, home to more surveillance camera than virtually anywhere else on Earth) debunked by photographic evidence taken on the day. In addition just four of the dozen or so officers present during the attack have come forward.

With more than 120 official complaints about police violence during the summit pending the latest revelation of a police officer assaulting a woman during a vigil in honour of Ian Tomlinson is just another nail in the coffin of the police's reputation.



The attack takes place at about 3.20 mins. Notice that the officer has hidden his ID number in clear contravention of police rules. Then again; "you're not cop, you're little people".

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