On 1 April 2009, newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson finished his shift and prepared to walk home. At the same time in Central London there was a demonstration going on, which had nothing to do with Tomlinson.
Ian never made it home. He died, without friends or family by his side, on the pavement on Cornhill. Just minutes before, he had been subjected to a vicious and unprovoked attack.... by the police.
If a passer by had not filmed this moment, the truth would probably never have been exposed, and yet another death at the hands of the police would have passed without any consequences for the guilty party.
Despite obstruction from the police throughout this process, the truth is now out there for all to see. An innocent man was unlawfully killed by the very people who were supposed to protect him.
We all now know that PC Simon Harwood is a thug and a liar. Tomlinson wasn't the first person he assaulted that day, and it seems certain that Harwood, and many others in the police Territorial Support Group, have got away with many other similar occasions simply because their victims didn't die, and their crimes were not filmed.
Now is the chance for the police, and the Crown Prosecution Service, to prove that things have changed since Blair Peach. Harwood is not the only guilty party in this episode, but if - even after the findings of the inquest into Tomlinson's death - he does not face trial for manslaughter, then any last remaining shred of trust between the public, and the police who serve them, is lost.
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