PC Simon Harwood cleared of G20 manslaughter

[johnboy1974]

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.

Yes the jury might have found him not guilty but the whole world saw it

[super jumbe]

Originally Posted by Canker_Canison
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.





The whole world saw the footage on TV, but you and the jury did not see or either turns the blind eye, remember when the law starts behaving like you said people go on rites the only solution to it and it will keep happening.

When a police officer makes an arrest you will be kept safe till the day of judgement.

950 deaths took place in custody; you should know what custody means then make your judgement, custody is keeping a person safe 24/7 under the supervision.

[Snowy79]

I've been involved in riot control in the Forces. When you've had scum throwing bricks, bottles, shotgun catridges with marbles taped to them and petrol bombs at you. When you've seen mates around you getting beaten up and even lads hitten over the heads with metal bars whilst they've been tending to injured civilians you go into defensive mode.

Some protesters pretend to be on your side to get close to you then assault you and run away. Some deliberately walk in front of you as a stalling tactic allowing others to ambush you.

Add to this 99% of the Police would rather be home with their families or down the pub having a quiet beer instead of working 12 hour shifts, then trying to sleep on the floor whilst others are coming and going around you meaning you don't actually get any sleep. This is bound to piss you off.

Yes some Police are heavy handed and some aren't heavy handed enough. The sooner our Country mans up and treats scum the way they should the sooner people that contribute to this Country will feel safer.

The Police were using the Kettling technique where they cordon crowds in one area so they can't set up ambushes or continue to riot. If they allowed people to just walk infront of them or go where they wanted the public would be up in arms saying they were allowing the rioting.

The guy who died was a piss head with underlying problems. If he was healthy he'd have ended up with a sore leg and crazed elbow. It was a million to one death. Hundreds more Police had worse force used against them and never died. Would the Public have been as bothered if one of them died ? Chances are the loony left would have said they knew what they were letting themselves in for so deserved it. Maybe if it became standard practice to beat seven shades out of anyone rioting, word would get around not to be out during a riot unless you were involved and open for a kicking.

[nicole123]

regardless him being a pisshead or not he was walking away from the police,1 copper decided to be the big i am and attack the man from behind (easy target) no wonder people dont trust the police!!

[Canker_Canison]

The whole world saw the footage on TV, but you and the jury did not see or either turns the blind eye, remember when the law starts behaving like you said people go on rites the only solution to it and it will keep happening.

When a police officer makes an arrest you will be kept safe till the day of judgement.

950 deaths took place in custody; you should know what custody means then make your judgement, custody is keeping a person safe 24/7 under the supervision.

Lets take this one paragraph at a time.

That video had no audio of any 'conversation' between the police & those around them. How do you know that the dead dude wasn't hurling streams of abuse at the police & making threatening remarks in his pi$$ed state? I only ever remember seeing a few seconds of video before the police officer hits him. Maybe my memory is slipping, or maybe we were saved the several long minutes of abuse he gave to the officers???
The only people who riot are scum bags. Normal people on political marches don't riot.


Do you honestly think I've never been arrested before?
But neither was I aggressive to the police. The only people who get a kicking in the cells have already provoked the police & usually assaulted an officer.


The police don't have the resources to monitor every individual they arrest. How many of those 950 deaths were due to excess alcohol...people choking on their own vomit?
If those are your levels of care, then ever parent who has lost a child through choking to death on their own vomit should be charged with negligent homicide.


I am no saint. But I've never had any bad dealings with the police. Being arrested, detained in the cells, being followed & harrassed by them... none of it ever resulted in any harsh treatment.

Then look at the numbers.

950 deaths over 21 years.

That's 45 people per year

Or 3.7 people per month

Stretching it out, that's 1 person per week dies in custody throughout the whole of the UK.

Compare that to how many die in A&E over a weekend?

Or die at home every week due to alcohol or suicide?

Stastically you're safer in the cells than out in public on a weekend

[maca]

A.C.A.B..............

[nicole123]

99% of people that do other jobs that involve 12 hour shifts dont go around pushing people to the ground because they want to be at home with there familys,he choose to do that job and you could also say he got away with murder because if it was a member of the public that had done it they would not see the light of day!!

[nicole123]

A.C.A.B..............

i did put that at the end of my post but thought i might get banned so deleted it macca!!

[maca]

i did put that at the end of my post but thought i might get banned so deleted it macca!!

Your entitled to your opinion m8 dk a lot broader minded than most other forums

[nicole123]

Lets take this one paragraph at a time.

That video had no audio of any 'conversation' between the police & those around them. How do you know that the dead dude wasn't hurling streams of abuse at the police & making threatening remarks in his pi$$ed state? I only ever remember seeing a few seconds of video before the police officer hits him. Maybe my memory is slipping, or maybe we were saved the several long minutes of abuse he gave to the officers???
The only people who riot are scum bags. Normal people on political marches don't riot.


Do you honestly think I've never been arrested before?
But neither was I aggressive to the police. The only people who get a kicking in the cells have already provoked the police & usually assaulted an officer.


The police don't have the resources to monitor every individual they arrest. How many of those 950 deaths were due to excess alcohol...people choking on their own vomit?
If those are your levels of care, then ever parent who has lost a child through choking to death on their own vomit should be charged with negligent homicide.


I am no saint. But I've never had any bad dealings with the police. Being arrested, detained in the cells, being followed & harrassed by them... none of it ever resulted in any harsh treatment.

Then look at the numbers.

950 deaths over 21 years.

That's 45 people per year

Or 3.7 people per month

Stretching it out, that's 1 person per week dies in custody throughout the whole of the UK.

Compare that to how many die in A&E over a weekend?

Or die at home every week due to alcohol or suicide?

Stastically you're safer in the cells than out in public on a weekend

canker if he was giving abuse then just arrest him!

[shankill2012]

The bully boy cop has no defence - no matter what the courts verdict was - the bully boy caused the death of a man by hitting him which he did NOT have to do ! SOME C A B - not all.

[Hoppy01]

A think all of us at some point have squared up to someone, maybe in the pub or in a car park, usually some words are exchanged and its handbags at dawn.
If the other person turns round and walks away,, there are only two options available.

1. You walk away and calm down and tell yer missus that he bricked it cause your knob was bigger than his, have a few pints and forget all about it.

2. You jump him from behind and throw him to the ground and tell your missus that you might be in jail this time next year for getting angry..

Most of us would let it go and thats just a public argument but this was a policeman on duty, taking the nip at a guy who just wanted to go home.
If they had let him through then that would have been the end of it, are we honestly saying that any poor sod caught up in this situation is a rioter?

A thought in a situation like this the police are supposed to protect the public, not bully them..

[johnboy1974]

99% of people that do other jobs that involve 12 hour shifts dont go around pushing people to the ground because they want to be at home with there familys,he choose to do that job and you could also say he got away with murder because if it was a member of the public that had done it they would not see the light of day!!

I wouldn't say he got away with murder but he certainly assaulted that guy- the whole world saw it and that cop was not provoked in any way. Funny how all the other cops just ignored the old guy. It just goes to prove the police are above the law.

[DogdySnigwirter]

[Snowy79]

The jury (civilians) found him not guilty and I'm sure they had access to more info than the rest of us. A quick google will show a few longer videos than the snippets shown on the news.

In one you can see a line of Police with dogs herding the crowds out of a side street. The guy who died could be seen ignoring the Police when they tried to move him on. At one stage you could see a Police dog being held back to prevent it biting him. The Policeman that hit him then comes in from the side, hits him then a few seconds later pushes him forward. Whilst this is going on you can hear the rioters shouting and screaming and seeing missiles being thrown. Probably not the best time to stop someone, read him his rights then arrest him. Probably even harder considering all the cells for miles around were already full.

You then see another vidoe of the guy collapsing in the street and Police medics trying to tend to him. As they're doing this the rioters lobs bottles etc so the Police have to form a cordon to protect the medics and the guy.

A lot are under the impression the Policeman murdered him but we don't know the facts. We've all seen videos of rioters knocking innocent people out and robbing them, who knows maybe he's been beaten up and robbed before hand or even afterwards. There's always two sides to a story.

It's nice to be in a position where you've not had to rely on the Police to save your lives etc. To call them scum, bast@@@ etc but trust me the first time you need them you'll be crying like a baby if they're not there for you. I know not all Police are decent. I've had a couple of occasions where I've dealt with some who are complete dick heads but I've also dealt with more of the public that are ten times worse.