'No evidence' push caused G20 death

The stress caused by Ian Tomlinson being shoved to the ground by a policeman during the G20 protests could have triggered a heart attack, an inquest heard yesterday.

Pathologist Dr Freddy Patel said there it was "well recognised" that a stressful trauma can aggravate a heart condition. But said he found no physical evidence this was what caused the newspaper seller's death.

Mr Tomlinson, 47, collapsed and died on the fringes of the anti-G20 summit demonstrations in central London on 1 April, 2009 shortly after being hit with a baton and pushed to the pavement from behind by a Metropolitan Police officer.

Dr Patel, who performed the first post-mortem examination, concluded he had coronary artery disease and could have died at any time.

He was questioned by Matthew Ryder QC, barrister for Mr Tomlinson's family, about whether the shock of being shoved to the floor by PC Harwood could have led to the death. Dr Patel replied: "There is a compelling association, but there is no causal evidence. A pathologist cannot say that caused it without the evidence."