Video 'shows officer pushed G20 fatality Ian Tomlinson to the ground'

Mr Tomlinson, a newspaper seller who had been on his way home from work, went on to suffer a heart attack and die near the Bank of England in the City of London.

The video, obtained by The Guardian, comes after several witnesses came forward with claims that Mr Tomlinson had been hit.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is already examining press photographs and is now expected to include the video in its investigation.
A police post-mortem examination found that Mr Tomlinson, 47, who was not taking part in the protest, died of natural causes.

Anna Branthwaite, a photographer, gave a detailed statement to City of London Police in which she described how Mr Tomlinson was rushed from behind and hit with a police baton. She told The Times: “I saw a riot police officer rushing towards him from behind and grabbing hold of him from behind and charging with him. He [the officer] grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and used his own body to propel him forward.”

She insisted that her evidence was solely related to the incident involving Mr Tomlinson and one particular riot police officer.

A statement by another witness, who did not wish to be named, says that Mr Tomlinson was pushed from behind and fell forward on his head.

The film appears to show that Mr Tomlinson was walking with his hands in his pockets when a group of officers, some with dogs and some in riot gear, come up behind him.

One officer appears to knock him with a baton, hitting him from behind on his upper thigh, as he is urged forward.

Shortly afterwards, the same policeman appears to push Mr Tomlinson in the back and he falls to the ground.

The man who shot the footage, a fund manager from New York who was in London on business, told The Guardian: “The primary reason for me coming forward is that it was clear the family were not getting any answers.”