Police gave ‘extra information’ before Tomlinson post mortem

Freddy Patel told the inquest into the newspaper seller’s death that a police officer gave him additional information just moments before he examined the body.

“The additional information was that [Tomlinson] was found collapsed outdoors on the pavement but there were no police officers nearby – when I say nearby I mean in the immediate vicinity of the body.

“The additional information was that [Tomlinson] was found collapsed outdoors on the pavement but there were no police officers nearby – when I say nearby I mean in the immediate vicinity of the body.” Dr Freddy Patel, pathologist who ruled on Ian Tomlinson’s death

“There was a lot of broken glass bottles and a lot of protesters were using sticks and there were a lot of sticks around the body where it was found. That was the information I was given before we went into the mortuary.”

The inquest heard that police had queried whether a baton caused Ian Tomlinson’s fatal injuries, four days before footage of a police officer striking him was made public.

The senior detective leading the inquiry into his death also questioned whether he was bitten by a dog.

But Mr Patel told the hearing: “I explained to him that they weren’t typical of a dog bite. I was told that there were a lot of broken bottles thrown there, so I said it could also have been caused by contact against a rigged sharp object.”

‘Rule out assault’
Patel told the inquest he had asked why police wanted him to carry out a more thorough examination after the post mortem was upgraded from a routine ‘Section 19’ to a ‘Section 20’, indicating a ‘suspicious death’.

“I would have been informed by the coroner’s officer that they would like to rule out if he had suffered any injuries as a result of an assault – and there was a big crowd there, whether he suffered any crush injuries related to the protesters in the public disorder,” he said.

Mr Tomlinson’s death made global headlines after amateur video of him being pushed to the ground by Pc Harwood challenged the original version of events.

Contradicting conclusions
In the post mortem carried out on on Friday 3 April, Patel concluded that Tomlinson’s death was consistent with natural causes.

Patel told the inquest he received a fax from the coroners’ office, which included details on Tomlinson’s medical problems. It stated he was an alcoholic who had been a “rough sleeper in the city of the last 20 years”. He told the inquest he found about three litres (5.3 pints) of fluid in the newspaper seller’s abdomen, which he decided was a mixture of blood and a liquid called ascites produced by liver disease.

When asked why he concluded that Mr Tomlinson died of natural causes, most likely “acute coronary syndrome”, despite evidence of internal bleeding, Dr Patel told the hearing: “… partly that diagnosis was made on the basis there was no alternative explanation” and that there were no major injuries to the organs or blood vessels that could, in such a short period of time, cause “sufficient bleeding to cause death.”

But Patel’s verdict was contradicted by two later post-mortem examinations, carried out by pathologists Dr Nat Cary and Dr Kenneth Shorrock, which concluded that Mr Tomlinson died as a result of internal bleeding.

Dr Cary suggested that Mr Tomlinson could have been pushed so he fell with his right arm trapped under his body, hitting his liver and causing it to bleed internally.

Follow our Ian Tomlinson inquest: special report where you will find all the background and latest developments

Fractures and bruising
The inquest also heard Patel had found fractures on Tomlinson’s sternum and ribs, along with minor cuts and bruises on his arm and an “elongated bruise”on his leg.

But when he was asked by the coroner to re-examine the body a few days later, the bruising had expanded.

To see an interactive map documenting Ian Tomlinson's last movements, click here

“On April 6, we had a second look at the body, and I noticed that 3mm abrasion had now developed into a half centimetre bruise and in the temple there was further bruising which was 2.5cm long,” he said.

The inquest continues at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in Fleet Street, London.