Questions hang over cleared G20 death policeman

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

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, and outside court stepson Paul King called the verdict “a joke”, vowing to pursue the issue in the civil courts.

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.

It can now be reported that Harwood faced a string of allegations about his behaviour before he came across Mr Tomlinson.

Ms Glass said it was “staggering” that he managed to medically retire from the Met while facing disciplinary proceedings for an alleged road rage incident – and despite this was later re-employed by the force as a police officer specialising in public order.

She said: “While the jury has today acquitted Pc Simon Harwood of manslaughter, it is clear that significant questions remain in connection with his actions on the day Ian Tomlinson died.

“Whether or not those actions were reasonable will be tested further at a misconduct hearing in September, which I have directed will be held in public.

“There are also questions in this case that the Metropolitan Police Service must answer.

“Pc Harwood was able to retire from the Metropolitan Police while facing disciplinary proceedings for previous alleged misconduct towards a member of the public.

“That he was then re-employed by the force, first in a civilian role and later as a constable, is simply staggering and raises considerable concerns about their vetting procedures.”

Harwood, from Carshalton in Surrey, said he used reasonable force when he hit Mr Tomlinson with a baton and shoved him to the ground as he walked away from police lines in the City of London.

Mr Tomlinson was an alcoholic and slept rough for some years. An inquest was held into his death last year, where the jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

Speaking outside court today, Mr King said: “After the unlawful killing verdict at the inquest last year, we were expecting to hear a guilty verdict not a not guilty verdict. It really hurts.

“But it’s not the end, we’re not giving up on justice for Ian.

“There has to be one more formal and final answer to the question ‘who killed Ian Tomlinson?’ That will now be pursued in the civil courts.”

Jules Carey, solicitor for the Tomlinson family, said: “This is one of the hardest days for the family, and there have been many.”

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Maxine de Brunner said the force had done all it could to co-operate with the investigation.

She said: “The evidence has now been put before the jury and they have reached their decision.”