Plea to prosecutor over Ian Tomlinson death
Updated on 01 April 2010
One year on from Ian Tomlinson's death at the G20 protests, there has still been no decision on whether to charge the police who struck him and pushed him to the ground.
One year after Ian Tomlinson died shortly after being pushed to the ground during clashes between police and G20 protesters, supporters have written an open letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) complaining about delays in investigating his death.
The letter is signed by human rights organisations, lawyers, academics and families of the victims of death in custody.
It describes the impact of the delays on the family as "intolerable", and it says the public silence of the delays calls into question the credibility of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Today Mr Tomlinson's family laid flowers at the spot in the City of London where he died on 1 April last year. They were joined by a crowd of supporters and held a minute's silence.
In an interview for Channel 4 News, Mr Tomlinson's stepson said it had been a difficult year.
"It's been up and down," he said. "We still haven't had any decisions. And today just feels like exactly a year ago, having to start again. It's hard.
"A year on we're still grieving and no decision's been made yet."
Mr Tomlinson's widow, Julia, told Channel 4 News it was the "not knowing" which had made life especially difficult. She said: "We still haven't had any answers and we still don't know where we stand in this and what is going to happen."
Mrs Tomlinson said many promises had been made and not kept. "Decisions were going to be made before Christmas, decisions were going to be made before April 1st, but still nothing."
Mr Tomlinson, a newspaper seller, was on his way home from work when he was struck with a baton and pushed to the ground by a police officer.
He was at first through to have died of a heart attack, but a second post mortem concluded that he had died as the result of an abdominal haemorrhage.
The conclusions of an IPCC investigation into Tomlinson's death were passed to the DPP, Keir Starmer QC, in August 2009.
Today, Mr Starmer said in a statement: "I readily accept the responsibility of the CPS to fulfil its duty regarding the investigation into the death of Ian Tomlinson. That investigation must be thorough, effective and impartial. And, I am afraid, in this particular case that means that it is taking longer than originally expected.
"As we have previously explained, the CPS and the IPCC are currently trying to obtain some further information. This relates to the expert medical evidence which is crucial to the proper determination of this case.
"Both the CPS and the IPCC are working as quickly as is compatible with a careful investigation in this difficult and complex case. But I acknowledge the frustration and anxiety that Mrs Tomlinson must be experiencing. In the circumstances, I will be writing to her privately today."
Last April the Independent Police Complaints Commission failed to get an injunction preventing Channel 4 News from broadcasting pictures showing Mr Tomlinson moments before he was shoved and struck.
