The Crown Prosecution Service dedices not to bother with charging Ian Tomlinson’s killer:
Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, said there was “no realistic prospect” of a conviction, because of a conflict between the postmortem examinations carried out after the death of Ian Tomlinson last year.
The newspaper seller died following the demonstrations on 1 April 2009 in central London. The official account that he died from a heart attack was undermined when the Guardian obtained video footage showing a riot officer striking the 47-year-old with a baton and shoving him to the ground shortly before he collapsed and died.
In a written statement the CPS admitted that there was sufficient evidence to bring a charge of assault against the officer, but claimed a host of technical reasons meant he could not be charged.
Tomlinson’s stepson Paul King, flanked by his mother, Julia, said: “It’s been a huge cover-up and they’re incompetent.”
King said: “He [Starmer] has just admitted on TV that a copper assaulted our dad. But he hasn’t done anything. He’s the man in charge … why hasn’t he charged him?
“They knew that if they dragged this out long enough, they would avoid charges. They knew just what they were doing. They’ve pulled us through a hedge backwards – now we have to go on living our lives.”
Is anybody surprised by this? Has there ever been a high profile case of police murder where the subsequent investigation led to a meaningful conviction, rather than at best a slap on the wrist? Ian Tomlinson, Jean Charles de Menezes, Harry Stanley, going all the way back to Blair Peach or Liddle Towers, ther have always been reasons why a prosecution could not happen or an officer was “punished enough” already. Who watches the watchmen is not just the tagline to that Alan Moore comic but also the single most important question we can ask about the police and justice system. Can we trust the police not to kill is for no reason? Can we trust them not to cover up if own of their own does kill us? Can we trust the justice system to investigate and prosecute, never mind convict a police officer when the worst does happen? So far, the answer to all these questions is no…