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G20: Police question witness to alleged assault on man who died during protests
Police yesterday interviewed a witness who claims to have seen riot police attack a man in the vicinity of last week's G20 protests, minutes before he collapsed and died of a heart attack.
City of London police are investigating the circumstances of the death of Ian Tomlinson, 47, a newsagent who died of a heart attack near to clashes between police and protesters on Wednesday.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said yesterday it was examining statements from new witnesses who have come forward in the last 48 hours. The complaints watchdog is reassessing what action to take after witnesses described seeing riot officers "assault" Tomlinson.
Tomlinson, who was married and had several children, was seen stumbling and falling to the floor on Cornhill, opposite St Michael's Alley, at about 7.25pm. Three named witnesses have told the Guardian they saw Tomlinson in an encounter with police minutes before he collapsed, and at a different location.
All three said they saw him at Royal Exchange Buildings, a pedestrian area 200ft from where he eventually fell. They 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 witnesses - Anna Branthwaite, 36, a freelance photographer from south London, Kezia Rolfe, 27, a researcher from Stoke Newington, north London, and Amiri Howe, 24, an actor from west London - all said the incident took place moments after violent clashes between police and protesters.
They said the encounter happened after police emerged with dogs in an apparent attempt to move protesters and bystanders out of the way and towards Cornhill. Two of the witnesses came forward after seeing a picture of Tomlinson published on the Guardian website on Friday. They said they recognised him as the man they had seen in the encounter with police.
Tomlinson's family have said in a statement: "Ian came from a large, loving family and he will be sadly missed by us all. The police are keeping us informed of any developments." In accordance with policy, the IPCC has not interviewed any witnesses independently, but is reviewing information gathered by police.
In a statement, the IPCC said last night it was "continuing" its assessment of the death. "IPCC investigators are continuing to look at CCTV of the incident, examine statements and police records and speak to independent witnesses, including new witnesses that have come forward in the last 48 hours. We are also aware of the photos published showing Mr Tomlinson."
The photos are part of a sequence of five images obtained by the Guardian, taken by three people, which show Tomlinson at Royal Exchange Buildings. The images show him lying or sitting on the pavement, in front of a line of riot police. Other images show him being helped up by a bystander. A final image shows him apparently stumbling away from the police in the direction of the place where he finally collapsed. None of the pictures shows any police officer striking Tomlinson.
His death was attributed by a postmortem to natural causes. City of London police said its investigation was ongoing.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/06/g20-ian-tomlinson-police-assault