Force investigates fatal push officer

Published on 22/08/2012 00:43

A POLICE officer who was cleared of killing Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests in 2009 will face force disciplinary proceedings next month.

PC Simon Harwood was
acquitted of manslaughter by a court last month, but watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said an internal Metropolitan Police hearing should be in public.

Yesterday, Scotland Yard confirmed that a gross misconduct hearing in front of a panel of three people, including a senior officer and a lay person, will open on 17 September. It is expected to last up to four weeks.

Harwood hit Mr Tomlinson, 47, with his baton and shoved him to the ground near the Royal Exchange Buildings in the City of London in April 2009.
Mr Tomlinson, who was an
alcoholic and had slept rough for a number of years, managed to walk about 75 yards before he collapsed. He later died from
internal bleeding.

Harwood, 45, told jurors at Southwark Crown Court he had used only reasonable force, and was cleared of killing the father-of-nine. Jurors in an inquest into the death had earlier returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

The officer had a controversial disciplinary record. A series of allegations was made against him over a 12-year period, but he was allowed to retire from the Met on medical grounds in 2001 despite unresolved proceedings.

Harwood later rejoined the police as a civilian worker, before becoming an officer for Surrey. He was then allowed to rejoin the Met in 2004 as part of its Territorial Support Group.

Speaking after the court case, Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Maxine de Brunner admitted that proper checks had not been made. She added: “Since then, there have been huge changes to vetting.