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Ian Tomlinson (c. 1972–April 1, 2009) was a British newsagent who died in central London during the 2009 G-20 London summit protests on his way home from work. An initial post mortem indicated that he had had a heart attack and attributed his death to natural causes.

His death became controversial a week later when The Guardian obtained footage, taken by a member of the public, showing that Tomlinson, who was not a protester, had been pushed to the ground by police minutes before he died, and appeared to have been struck on the leg by a police baton. The footage appears to show that the incident occurred without provocation on Tomlinson's part.

A second post mortem has been ordered, and a criminal inquiry begun, from which the police have been removed. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has announced it will appoint its own investigators to examine whether the police assaulted Tomlinson and whether that assault caused his death.

Personal life

Tomlinson was raised in Matlock, Derbyshire. He had moved to London when he was 17 to work as a scaffolder.

At the time of his death, he was working as an Evening Standard newspaper vendor. Known as "Tommo" to his friends, he was married with nine children — five girls and four boys — aged between 15 and 32. He and his wife, Julia Tomlinson, had separated, reportedly as a result of his alcohol problem. He was living in the Lindsey Hotel, a hostel near the Smithfield meat market, where he had been staying since October 2008. Before that, he had experienced long periods of homelessness.

The incident

Before the reported assault

The Evening Standard reported on April 8 that a witness had stepped forward who said that Tomlinson had been "pushed and thrown" along by a police officer 15 minutes before the incident shown on the Guardian footage, as he tried to make his way past security cordons in order to get home.

Eyewitness reports and videos

Initial press reports indicate that Tomlinson did not take part in the G-20 protests, but was walking through central London during the protests on April 1, attempting to get back to the Lindsay Hotel after work. He was wearing a Millwall football shirt and tracksuit trousers.

Before The Guardian obtained footage of what appears to be a police assault on Tomlinson, eyewitnesses had already said that he had been pushed to the ground by police at the Royal Exchange, a pedestrian area in the City of London. The Guardian reports that witnesses "variously described seeing him being pushed and thrown to the floor by an officer, struck with a police baton and hitting his head against the pavement." The same witnesses said the incident occurred minutes after violent clashes between the police and protesters.

The video obtained by The Guardian, handed to the newspaper by a visitor from New York, shows Tomlinson walking slowly with his hands in his pockets. Several police officers in riot gear and with dogs are walking closely behind him. It is not known at this point whether words were exchanged. The footage shows one officer appear to lunge at Tomlinson from behind and strike him across the legs with a baton. The same officer then appears to push Tomlinson's back, causing him to fall.

On April 8, Channel 4 News released more footage of the same scene, which shows an officer striking out at Tomlinson from a different angle. The video shows the riot officer riot officer swung his arm back fully before he hit Tomlinson, according to The Guardian. The officer apparently responsible has made himself known to the IPCC.

Aftermath

Tomlinson can be seen briefly remonstrating with police as he sat on the ground. After being helped to his feet by a protester, he walked 200 feet to Cornhill, opposite St Michael's Alley, where he collapsed at around 7:25 pm. Witnesses say he had been stumbling and appeared dazed. An ITV News photographer went to give medical aid, but was forced away when a police charge commenced. A protester made a 999 call and police officers gave first aid. At that point, Tomlinson was reportedly still breathing. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

Initial reporting

The Evening Standard, London's evening newspaper, reported on April 2 that, "police were bombarded with bricks, bottles and planks of wood" as they assisted Tomlinson. The web edition of the story was later changed, but still stated:

"Today it emerged that police had come under a barrage of missiles as they tried to save the life of a man who collapsed during a protest near the Bank of England last night.

The officers were hit by bottles thrown from the crowd and were forced to carry the man to a safe location to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. An ambulance crew then took the man to hospital, where he died.

An independent investigation has been ordered into the death of the man, who was in his forties. He had been found slumped in an alley off Cornhill after suffering a suspected heart attack. Police are investigating reports that he was an innocent by-stander who got caught up in the trouble.

The newspaper went on to report, "A witness claimed that protesters came to the aid of the man, and that just a few plastic bottles were thrown by people further back in the crowd who did not realise what was happening.

According to eyewitnesses, reports of missiles raining down while police tried to assist are "completely false." Witnesses say it was protesters, not police, who provided the initial first aid, and who telephoned for medical help, as well as requesting it with a megaphone. "The only attitude of people in the crowd was to help this guy," one eyewitness said.

Fran Legg, a politics student at Queen Mary, University of London, told The Evening Standard that it was a friend of hers who put Tomlinson in the recovery position. She said that around eight riot police arrived on the scene with police medics, who stood around Tomlinson. The Standard reported that, "by the time police medics took over from her friend, the man had fallen unconscious."

Witnesses stated that one or two plastic bottles were thrown by people who were unaware of Tomlinson's situation, but other protesters told them to stop; one protester reportedly threatened to kill anyone who continued to throw anything.

See also

• Blair Peach
• Hillsborough_Disaster#The_Sun_newspaper_controversy
• Police brutality

References

1. Lewis, Paul. Ian Tomlinson death: Guardian video reveals police attack on man who died at G20 protest, The Guardian, April 7, 2009.
2. Dodd, Vikram. Ian Tomlinson death: IPCC takes over inquiry from G20 protests police force, The Guardian, April 8, 2009.
3. ^ Booth, Robert. Friends of G20 protests victim shocked by loss of 'lovable man', The Guardian, April 8, 2009.
4. Davenport, Justin; Lefley, Jack; and Randhawa, Kiran. Name officer who 'killed' my father, The Evening Standard, April 8, 2009.
5. ^ Lewis, Paul and Laville, Sandra. G20: Police question witness to alleged assault on man who died during protests, The Guardian, April 6, 2009.
6. Ian Tomlinson death: New video footage from G20 protests gives fresh angle on attack, The Guardian, April 8, 2009.
7. Ian Tomlinson death: Police officer comes forward to IPCC, The Guardian, April 8, 2009.
8. Davenport, Justin. Police pelted with bricks as they help dying man, The Evening Standard, April 2, 2009, accessed April 8, 2009.
9. ^ Davenport, Justin and Brierley, Danny. Ring of steel keeps demos away from world leaders, The Evening Standard]], April 2, 2009; accessed April 8, 2009.
10. ^ Witness Statement About G20 Death, Indymedia London.
11. Lewis, Paul; Williams, Rachel; and Jones, Sam. Police name man who died at G20 protest, The Guardian, April 2, 2009, accessed April 3, 2009.

External links

• The video footage obtained by The Guardian
• The same footage on YouTube
• Channel 4 footage, showing the same incident from a different angle.

• Current events
• 2009 in London
• G20
• Protests in the United Kingdom
• Alleged police brutality