Protest death pathologist may be struck off

A pathologist could face being struck off over his part in the investigation into the death of Ian Tomlinson during G20 protests.

Dr Freddy Patel was found by a medical tribunal to be misleading, dishonest and liable to bring his profession into disrepute over parts of his handling of the post-mortem examination of Mr Tomlinson’s body.

The pathologist, who is suspended, concluded newspaper seller Mr Tomlinson died from a heart attack, but questions were raised when an American tourist came forward with a film recording of him being hit and then pushed to the ground.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Tomlinson, 47, had got up and walked 75 yards before he collasped. He died later in hospital.

Further medical reports suggested he died from an injury to his liver that caused internal bleeding and then cardiac arrest.

At the inquest into Mr Tomlinson’s death, Dr Patel’s claim Mr Tomlinson died of a heart attack was discredited by the jury in favour of the string of experts who said he died of internal bleeding.

Dr Patel now faces a hearing into whether he is fit to practise, arranged by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) on behalf of the General Medical Council.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

One potential outcome of the hearing is that Dr Patel will be struck off.

The MPTS fitness to practise panel released their findings of fact in the case yesterday, revealing they found Dr Patel to be misleading, dishonest and liable to bring his profession into disrepute over certain aspects of his second post-mortem report.

The panel also identified a string of failures in both his first and second reports.

Among them, Dr Patel admitted not including in his first report that he mentioned to police during the examination that he found injuries that could be consistent with a baton strike.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The panel found Dr Patel did not properly consider or comment on the fact that abdominal bleeding found on Mr Tomlinson could have caused his collapse and death.

They also found he did not adequately explain how Mr Tomlinson could have died from a heart attack or adequately consider any other possible non-natural causes of his death.

After receiving new evidence, Dr Patel compiled a second post-mortem report on the same day, April 6 2010, but again made a series of mistakes and incorrect conclusions, according to the panel.

It found Dr Patel to be dishonest as he did not identify changes made to his first report referring to Mr Tomlinson’s liver injuries, downplaying signs of bleeding by saying there was “no sign of haematoma” on his liver.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He also failed to comment on the significance of these changes, which was misleading, the panel found.

In the second report, Dr Patel wrongly concluded Mr Tomlinson died of a heart attack, and wrongly concluded “death could not have been due to haemorrhage” and “the injury to the liver was relatively minor”, the panel found.

Dr Patel also wrongly concluded “there were no significant marks of violence from assault or forceful restraint” despite having seen CCTV footage of Mr Tomlinson being hit with a baton by a policeman.

The panel will now start considering whether the proven facts indicate that Dr Patel’s fitness to practise was impaired, in a hearing expected to last for three weeks.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It began yesterday and continued today in Manchester before the hearing relocates to London for three days so Dr Patel can give evidence in person.

Last month, Pc Simon Harwood was cleared of the manslaughter of Mr Tomlinson in April 2009.

He argued he had used reasonable force when he hit the 47-year-old with a baton and shoved him to the ground as he walked away from police lines in the City of London.

Mr Tomlinson had been homeless for several years during his life and was a heavy drinker, suffering from cirrhosis of the liver.

Pc Harwood, 45, will face Metropolitan Police disciplinary proceedings over his actions