Policeman cleared of G20 death faces probe

“Significant questions” remain about the behaviour of a police officer who was cleared of manslaughter during the G20 protests, the police watchdog said.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission’s deputy chairwoman, Deborah Glass, has also ordered that constable Simon Harwood face Metropolitan Police disciplinary proceedings in public.

Mr Harwood, aged 45, was acquitted at Southwark Crown Court of the manslaughter of Ian Tomlinson in the City of London in Apr 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 the court his stepson Paul King called the verdict “a joke”, and vowed to pursue the issue in the civil courts.

Mr 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 about 75m before he collapsed, and died later in hospital from internal injuries.

It can now be reported that Mr 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 police force 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.

“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.”

Mr 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 had slept rough for several 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.”