Ian Tomlinson’s widow welcomes police apology

Paul King (left), the son of Ian Tomlinson, and his widow Julia. Picture: PA

Julia Tomlinson described the past four years as “a really hard uphill battle” as her family has fought to get to the truth of what happened to the 47-year-old.

Her husband was hit with a baton and shoved by Pc Simon Harwood during G20 demonstrations in the City of London, and later collapsed and died.

An inquest jury found that Mr Tomlinson was unlawfully killed, but Pc Harwood was cleared of manslaughter at a trial at Southwark Crown Court last year.

Today the Metropolitan Police paid tribute to the pain that his widow and family have “endured with dignity” since his death.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Maxine de Brunner said: “I take full responsibility for the actions of Simon Harwood on 1 April 2009. His actions fell far below the standard we expect from our officers. I accept the finding of the inquest that Mr Tomlinson was unlawfully killed.

“As the jury found, ‘at the time of the strike and push Mr Tomlinson was walking away from the police line. He was complying with police instructions to leave Royal Exchange Buildings. He posed no threat.’ Today, I apologise unreservedly for Simon Harwood’s use of excessive and unlawful force, which caused Mr Tomlinson’s death, and for the suffering and distress caused to his family as a result.”

Mr Tomlinson’s fatal encounter with Mr Harwood was caught on film by a New York hedge fund manager.

File photo dated 18/06/12 of PC Simon Harwood, as Scotland Yard has apologised to the family of Ian Tomlinson, who died after being pushed to the ground by Pc Simon Harwood during protests in 2009, as the force confirmed it has reached an out-of-court settlement with his family. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Monday August 5, 2013. See PA story POLICE Tomlinson. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

It showed Mr Tomlinson walking away from a group of police officers, and falling to the ground after he was hit and shoved by Mr Harwood.

Mrs Tomlinson said: “Today’s apology and admission by the Metropolitan Police that their officer unlawfully killed Ian marks the end of our campaign and legal case.

“On April 1 2009 when we first heard news of Ian’s death we simply wanted to know what had happened. We were completely in the dark until a week after his death when we saw the video capturing the violent assault on him by Pc Harwood.

“It was, and still is a shocking video. We knew that Ian had been unlawfully killed by the officer as soon as we saw the video, but we had to first go through the long legal process of taking apart untruthful accounts given by Pc Harwood and other police officers. We should not have had to do this.

City of London Coroner's Court released video footage showing Ian Tomlinson after he was pushed by a police officer at the G20 protests, that was shown to a jury at his inquest. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday March 29, 2011. The jury, sitting at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in Fleet Street, London, was told the inquest will examine the actions of police, the pathologist and independent investigators in the aftermath of Mr Tomlinson's death. See PA story INQUEST G20. Photo credit should read: City of London Coroner's Court/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

“The last four years have been a really hard uphill battle. We have had to deal with many obstacles and set backs. After the ‘unlawful killing’ verdict at the inquest it was unimaginable to us that Pc Harwood could be acquitted of the criminal charge of manslaughter. We will never understand that verdict, but at least today’s public admission of unlawful killing by the Metropolitan Police is the final verdict, and it is as close as we are going to get to justice.

“It will always be painful for us that Ian died so violently, but at least he is at rest now, and the force has publicly acknowledged the truth. We hope that lessons have been learned and that other families will be spared the tragedy and ordeal that we have had to face. We loved Ian and will always keep his memory alive by talking about him and sharing our memories with each other as we finally start looking to the future again.”

In the immediate aftermath of Mr Tomlinson’s death, officers claimed that they had come under a hail of bottles as they tried to help him.

The first post mortem examination found that he had died from a heart attack, but later it was determined that in fact the father of four children and five stepchildren had died from internal injuries.

A detective inspector had incorrectly briefed a pathologist that he had fallen in front of a police van.

After Mr Harwood’s acquittal, Police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission raised “grave concerns” about the way that he had been able to move between the Met and Surrey Police despite a controversial disciplinary record.

He was due to face internal disciplinary proceedings in 2001 while working for Scotland Yard, after being accused of unlawful arrest, abuse of authority and discreditable conduct but these were discontinued when he retired on medical grounds.

Mr Harwood was accused of shouting at another driver and knocking him over his car door, then announcing he was a police officer and arresting the motorist on a common assault charge.

After retiring as a police officer from the Met, Mr Harwood rejoined the force as a civilian worker, then became a police officer for Surrey. He was later allowed to rejoin the Met in 2004 as part of its Territorial Support Group (TSG), specialising in public order.