DRAMATIC VIDEO footage showing a police officer pushing a man to the ground during a G20 protest just minutes before his death from a heart attack raised “obvious concerns”, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner said yesterday.
With the Liberal Democrats already pressing for a criminal inquiry, Sir Paul Stephenson promised his full support for the investigation already under way by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into the circumstances surrounding the death of Ian Tomlinson.
The 47-year-old newspaper seller was making his way home and was not connected to the protest in the City of London on the eve of last Thursday’s G20 summit.
Police originally said that Mr Tomlinson had not been involved with them or been in a crush prior to his sudden death of natural causes outside a police cordon.
But Mr Tomlinson’s family demanded answers and “justice” yesterday following the release of the footage, taken by a fund manager from New York, showing Mr Tomlinson being pushed from behind by a baton-wielding policeman and landing heavily before remonstrating with the police.
The video was shown on the Guardiannewspaper's website.
The footage, shot at about 7.20pm, showed Mr Tomlinson apparently on his way home, hands in pockets, walking away from a group of police officers who subsequently urged him forward.
An officer from that group then appeared to strike Mr Tomlinson on his leg before returning moments later to push him with both hands, sending him flying to the ground.
Just minutes later, Mr Tomlinson collapsed and died at nearby Cornhill, where he received first aid from police.
A second postmortem is to be carried out.
Demanding a criminal investigation, Liberal Democrat spokesman David Howarth said the footage showed “a sickening and unprovoked attack” by police.
As home secretary Jacqui Smith stressed the need for the speedy conclusion of the IPCC inquiry, her Conservative “shadow”, Chris Grayling, said: “These latest revelations are extremely alarming and leave big questions to be answered by the police.”
Mr Tomlinson’s stepson, Paul King, yesterday appealed for any further witnesses to come forward, telling the BBC: “For the sake of the family and his kids, we just want justice . . . Until everything does come out and we do get the evidence we need, we can’t lay our father to rest.”
Reacting to the video footage, Mr King said: “You can clearly see that my dad had his hands in his pockets with his head down walking away. So there was no reason for the officer to push him down.”