PC charged with manslaughter over Tomlinson death

On Tuesday, the Director of Public Prosecutions decided that there was enough evidence to charge Scotland Yard officer PC Simon Harwood, who will appear in court next month.

The development comes after Keir Starmer QC vowed to launch a quick and "thorough" review of his decision not to prosecute after an inquest jury unanimously ruled earlier this month that the newspaper seller was unlawfully killed at the protests.

Mr Tomlinson collapsed and died on the fringes of the G20 demonstrations in central London on 1 April, 2009, after suffering an internal bleed as a result of the officer's "excessive and unreasonable" force, the jury said.

Mr Starmer released a statement on Tuesday morning, saying "matters have moved on in two ways" since his previous decision not to pursue criminal charges against the officer.

New medical evidence at the inquest and the opinions of experts during the hearing helped change his mind.

The DPP made the announcement after speaking to Mr Tomlinson's relatives at the Crown Prosecution Service's headquarters in central London.

The statement read: "The difficulties that would now confront any prosecution have changed in nature and scale from last year when a decision was taken not to prosecute, although it is clear that real difficulties remain.

"Taking the evidence as it now stands, we have concluded that, even with those remaining difficulties, there is now sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of successfully prosecuting PC Simon Harwood for the manslaughter of Mr Tomlinson.

"That being the case, it is clearly in the public interest that criminal proceedings be brought.

"Accordingly, a summons charging Pc Harwood with the manslaughter of Mr Tomlinson has been obtained from the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court."