G20 death probe investigators 'searching new CCTV footage'

Officials probing the death of Ian Tomlinson during G20 protests said today they remain hopeful fresh CCTV footage will help them piece together his final moments.

Investigators are trying to trace the 47-year-old newspaper seller’s movements around the fringes of angry demonstrations outside the Bank of England.

Mr Tomlinson collapsed and died from a heart attack after clashing with police officers at least once as he walked home across the City.

A Metropolitan Police police constable caught on camera hitting Mr Tomlinson with a baton and pushing him to the ground has been suspended from duty.

A spokeswoman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said there are a number of public and private CCTV cameras in the streets around where Mr Tomlinson died.

She said an earlier statement by the watchdog’s chairman Nick Hardwick that “there is no CCTV footage” may not be accurate as investigators continue to trawl through hours of evidence.

The spokesman said: “From the outset it has been a main line of our inquiry to recover all CCTV from the Corporation of London and from all private premises in the area.

“This work is ongoing and involves many hours of viewing and detailed analysis.”

Mr Tomlinson died as more than 5,000 protesters converged on the City of London on April 1 to mark the G20 Summit in Docklands.

Amateur video footage captured by a New York fund manager emerged several days later of him being pushed to the ground by a policeman.

Other photographs have also come to light of Mr Tomlinson apparently remonstrating with officers in a riot van in Lombard Street up to an hour earlier.

Commissioner Paul Stephenson said the images of Mr Tomlinson being struck “raised obvious concerns” as questions arose over the police tactic of “kettling” demonstrators to prevent them moving freely.

Mr Tomlinson’s stepson Paul King, 26, of east London, said any officer found to have contributed towards his death should be punished.

On Saturday hundreds of people dressed in black and bearing banners gathered at Bethnal Green police station to march in silence to the Bank of England.

Deborah Glass, of the IPCC, said: “We continue to appeal for more information, including any other video footage.

“Clearly there were a lot of people in the area when this incident happened and we still need people to contact us with any information or images they have of Mr Tomlinson.”