PC Simon Harwood cleared of G20 manslaughter

[super jumbe]

"Significant questions" remain about the behaviour of a police officer cleared of the manslaughter of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests, the police watchdog has said.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission's deputy chairwoman, Deborah Glass, ordered that Pc Simon Harwood will now face Metropolitan Police disciplinary proceedings in public.

Mr Harwood, 45, was acquitted at Southwark Crown Court of the manslaughter of Mr Tomlinson in the City of London in April 2009. A jury of seven women and five men took 18 hours and 45 minutes to clear him.

He cried in the dock and his wife Helen sobbed as the verdicts were given, before they tearfully embraced as he was freed. Mr Tomlinson's family also broke down, while outside court stepson Paul King called the verdict "a joke" and vowed to pursue the issue in the civil courts.

Mr Harwood hit 47-year-old Mr Tomlinson with a baton and pushed him to the ground on the fringes of the G20 protests. The father-of-nine walked 75 yards before he collapsed, and died later in hospital from internal injuries.

Link:
'Questions remain' over cleared Pc - MSN UK News



Let?s presume if Mr Harwood did not hit 47-year-old Mr Tomlinson with a baton on that day would Mr Tomlinson have still died?????

[ray156]

no comment,dont want banned,nough said.

[super jumbe]

no comment

I can read your lips?

[andy1967]

I have read he was kicked out the police for being heavy handed with a person before, then 2 years later he applied and got a job as a policmen again. None off this was allowed to be mentioned in this trial.

[DOUGALMCD]

We all saw clearly what happened.

[Snowy79]

I'd be interested to find out what internal injuries he had. The baton hit I don't think would have killed him and neither should have the push. They've also kept his medical condition out of the press. He was only 47 and had 9 kids so obviously some parts of him were in working order.

I'm not supporting the Policeman's actions as I don't know what pressures he was under at the time but I'm sure there's a lot more to it than we see on the TV.

[super jumbe]

I haven?t read a cooper ever been charged with manslaughter on duty, I might be wrong!!!!!!

[Shady]

I might be wrong!!!!!!

you usually are

[Meat-Head]

not to update on the news, is the the case where you play the film backwards, you dee him helping him up off the floor?

[johnboy1974]

What an absolute disgrace, a member of the public pushed forcibly to the ground by an officer who is there to protect and serve him, and he gets away with it. Reasonable force was apparently used, but where was the provocation. What a ****ing joke.

[shankill2012]

It's a joke , if that poor man even put a finger on a cop the cop would be screaming assault and the guy would end up in court and found guilty but this bully boy cop assaults a man with his hands in his pockets offering no threat whatsoever which ends in the mans death and gets away with it , you see a lot of stories in the news where one punch in a fight ends with someone dying and the offender always gets charged with manslaughter - this bully boy cop should be no different .

[DogdySnigwirter]

Over the last few years the increase in Police Officers being caught on cctv and mobile phone footage 'restraining' members of the public shows that stepping in to the uniform gives you the power to throw your weight around and bully civilians.

It's becoming an 'Us and Them' situation with the way the force is now run.

They should be a little careful ... there are more of us!

[super jumbe]

Bullying civilians, that?s the right way of saying it.

1,433 people in England and Wales have died either in police custody or following other police contact since 1990, according to data compiled by Inquest, a charity specialising in the investigation of contentious deaths.

950 deaths took place in custody, 317 following a police pursuit, 112 were the result of a road traffic incident involving a police vehicle and 54 were police shootings.

In 2011 there were 23 deaths in police custody, seven following police pursuit, one involving a police vehicle and two from shooting - including Mark Duggan.

Since 2003 the number of deaths has seen a general decline, although 2008's total of 65 was up 20% on the previous year's figure.

2005 saw the highest number of fatalities from police shootings - 6 - including Brazilian national Jean Charles de Menezes. No individual officers were charged in relation to de Menezes' death.


Download the data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...VE&output=html

[Hoppy01]

Its some of the quotes he used in his defence that got me thinking!
"He admitted hitting the newspaper seller with a baton and shoving him to the ground, but insisted his conduct was justifiable in the context of the G20 riots."

Really, so bodily throwing an unarmed man who is walking away from you to the ground is justifiable now!!

A think the verdict would have been different if the jury were aware of his past record, given his past record its only natural to wonder why he was even allowed to serve in a special riot unit.

A understand that police are only human,from time to time they will get it wrong but Harwood wasn't under any pressure or threat at the time.
He chose to break line and force an unarmed man to the ground who was walking away from him and that man died.
He may not be guilty of murder, but he's not innocent with regards to Mr Tomlinson's death.

[Canker_Canison]

1,433 people in England and Wales have died either in police custody or following other police contact since 1990, according to data compiled by Inquest, a charity specialising in the investigation of contentious deaths.

950 deaths took place in custody, 317 following a police pursuit, 112 were the result of a road traffic incident involving a police vehicle and 54 were police shootings.

I don't have all of the information to make a decision on what happened at the G20 riot, none of us do...neither did the jury.

But taking stats from a body set up to investigate the police is dangerous. All stats can be manipulated to say whatever needs to be said.

How many of the 317 deaths following a police pursuit were innocent victims? How many were the people running from the police?
In my eyes, those that try to run from the police & end up killing themselves in a crash brought it upon themselves.

As far as police shootings go. If you're stupid enough to point, or threaten, the police with something that looks like a gun... You should expect to be shot & killed.

But the use of tazers is becoming more common, which saves lives. It also soooo funny when you see people drop like a plank to the floor.