"The latest disclosures are likely to fuel concerns already raised by Tomlinson's family that information was withheld in what they have called a "cover-up". Police told the family Tomlinson died of a heart attack before a postmortem had even taken place.
Once the autopsy had taken place, they asked if there were marks on the body, but were not told by City of London police about an elongated bruise and puncture marks on the newspaper vendor's leg.........
Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, last week played down allegations of a cover-up.
"There will of course be cases where people do close ranks," he said. "The culture in some parts of policing is, without doubt, a certain internal one, and people feel deep loyal to their colleagues."
THE GUARDIAN;
REMINDER: EXECUTION BY FIRE Friday, May 13, 10PM (9PM Manitoba/Sask.)
(In 1991 three little girls died in a fire that gutted their home in a small Texas town. Sympathy turned to rage when their father was charged with murder by arson. After a thirteen-year battle to prove his innocence and despite new evidence casting doubt over the conviction, Todd Willingham was executed by lethal injection in 2004. Since Willingham’s death, leading fire scientists have challenged the underpinnings of the case, concluding it was an accidental fire. Today, Willingham’s family is still battling to clear his name and for the first time Texas may be forced to admit to executing an innocent man. Another documentary by renowned Canadian journalist Julian Sher. “What can be more crushing than the nightmare of losing your child,” asks Sher. “And then the nightmare gets unimaginably worse when the police accuse you of the murder and you know you’re innocent? These were compelling human dramas and trials that grabbed the headlines. We tried to look at the toll these cases took not only on the accused but also on their families—their loved ones, the other children. It’s also about how communities turn against the guilty suspect in our midst – how we are all guilty of jumping to conclusions.”)
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A thorough account of "The death of Ian Tomlinson" can be found on Wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ian_Tomlinson
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: If Dr. Freddy Patel had the last word, a 47-year-old newspaper vendor named Ian Tomlinson's death after he collapsed on the pavement on the fringes of protests at the G20 on April 1, 2009 would have been written off as "natural causes." However amateur video footage emerged showing him being pushed to the ground by a police officer who faces misconduct proceedings after an inquest beginning in March 2011 is completed. As noted on Wikipedia: "Ian Tomlinson (7 February 1962 – 1 April 2009) was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London on his way home from work during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination indicated that he had suffered a heart attack brought on by coronary artery disease, and had died of natural causes. His death became controversial a week later when The Guardian obtained footage of his last moments, filmed by an American investment fund manager who was visiting London. The video showed Tomlinson being struck on the leg from behind by a police officer wielding an extendable baton, then pushed to the ground by the same officer. It appeared to show no provocation on Tomlinson's part—he was not a protester, and at the time he was struck, the footage showed him walking along with his hands in his pockets. He walked away after the incident, but collapsed and died moments later. After The Guardian published the video, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) began a criminal inquiry. A second postmortem indicated that Tomlinson had died from internal bleeding caused by a blunt force trauma to the abdomen, in association with cirrhosis of the liver. A third postmortem was arranged by the defence team of the accused officer, PC Simon Harwood; the third pathologist agreed that the cause of death was internal bleeding. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced in July 2010 that no charges would be brought, because medical disagreement about the cause of the death meant prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a causal link between the death and the alleged assault. The first pathologist, Dr Freddy Patel, was suspended for three months in August 2010 for "deficient professional performance" in several unrelated cases." As the Guardian reported on March 19, 2011, Patel, who had been previously suspended for incompetence in a series of high profile autopsies, was found guilty of professional misconduct after failing to spot that a murder victim had been suffocated. He now faces being struck off the medical register.
A disciplinary panel of the General Medical Council ruled that his "fitness to practise was impaired" because of his reluctance to consider asphyxiation in the murder case, the falsification of his professional CV, and his failure to redress previous professional shortcomings. The UK Press Association says that the inquest, "is likely to examine the actions of police, the pathologist, the coroner and independent investigators in the aftermath of Mr Tomlinson's death." The Goudge Inquiry into many of former Dr. Charles Smith's cases also examined relationships between pathologists and police - particularly a case in which Smith agreed to interview a woman, suspected of murdering her baby, at her home while fully aware that the home had been secretly bugged by the authorities.
HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
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"Senior police were told 48 hours after Ian Tomlinson's death that officers had witnessed a colleague push him to the ground at the G20 protests, but the information was withheld from the police watchdog," the Guardian storypublished earlier today begins under the heading, "Ian Tomlinson evidence was held back from IPCC: Three constables reported seeing newspaper seller struck with baton and pushed to ground days before video emerged."
"The Guardian can reveal that three constables reported seeing Tomlinson being struck with a baton and pushed to the ground four days before video footage of the incident emerged," the story continues.
"The Independent Police Complaints Commission is now investigating why information provided by Metropolitan Police constables Andrew Moore, Kerry Smith and Nicholas Jackson was not passed on to its investigators.
The focus of the IPCC investigation is not likely to be the Met but City of London police, the tiny force that has jurisdiction over the Square Mile and was initially responsible for investigating Tomlinson's death on 1 April 2009.
Two days later, on 3 April, the Met told City of London police that three constables from Hammersmith and Fulham station had recognised the newspaper seller from pictures in the media. They said they were "adamant" they had seen a police officer strike him with baton and push him to the ground before his death.
City of London officers investigating the death do not appear to have informed the IPCC, the coroner, the pathologist, Tomlinson's family or the media.
The first public admission that police witnesses may have seen their colleague attack Tomlinson at the G20 protests was on 8 April, the day after the release of video footage showing the incident in full.
An inquest jury concluded last week that Tomlinson was "unlawfully killed" by Met police officer Simon Harwood at the protests. PCs Moore, Smith and Jackson turned out to be crucial witnesses – two of them gave evidence at the inquest.
All three constables, level 2 trained public order officers, can be seen clearly in the footage and were standing just yards away from Tomlinson when he was attacked from behind by Harwood.
It was Jackson who first made the connection when he saw photographs of Tomlinson being treated by medics in a newspaper. On 3 April he told his inspector that he recognised him as the same man who had been pushed to the ground by a police officer, and within hours senior officers had also contacted Moore and Smith, who had been standing beside him at Royal Exchange Buildings.
They too confirmed they had seen the incident and one officer, Smith, said she had "expected blood" when she saw Tomlinson pushed.
The three Met constables did not recognise Harwood – a territorial support group officer based at another station – and assumed he was a City of London police officer.
A Hammersmith and Fulham inspector telephoned the Met's "point of contact" for the Tomlinson investigation at 4.15pm on 3 April and told him his officers were convinced Tomlinson had been pushed by an officer before his death.
The Met contact said he instantly realised the significance of the new information and relayed the details to City of London police before the postmortem examination was conducted by pathologist Dr Freddy Patel. However, Dr Patel was not told about the new police witnesses.
City of London police, which had four officers at the autopsy, said the information was not passed to it by the Met until the autopsy was at an "advanced stage".
A senior IPCC official investigating the matter said there was an "obvious dispute" between the two forces about timing, although City of London police does not deny it received the information on 3 April.
The following day, City of London police released a press statement announcing the newspaper seller had died of a "sudden" heart attack, but making no reference to the new information received from the three police witnesses.
City of London investigators also authorised an IPCC statement which said there was "no evidence" the actions of police contributed in any way to his death.
The April 4 statement was shelved at the last minute, after the watchdog was independently contacted by witnesses who suggested there may have been contact.
The IPCC began investigating why its officials were not informed about the evidence supplied by Moore, Smith and Jackson last week after the Guardian gave the watchdog a summary of its investigation prior to publication.
In a separate development, the IPCC is on Monday expected to release three reports relating to Tomlinson's death.
They include one report into Tomlinson's death, another into whether a Met police officer misled two pathologists who examined the body and a third into complaints that police misled the media.
None of the reports are expected to take into account the fact the Met and City of London police knew two days after his death that police witnesses had seen Tomlinson pushed by an officer.
A Met spokesman confirmed three of its officers were identified as witnesses on 3 April, but said the force "took prompt and proper action to inform the investigating force, in this case City of London".
City of London police said the force would co-operate with any IPCC investigation.
The latest disclosures are likely to fuel concerns already raised by Tomlinson's family that information was withheld in what they have called a "cover-up". Police told the family Tomlinson died of a heart attack before a postmortem had even taken place.
Once the autopsy had taken place, they asked if there were marks on the body, but were not told by City of London police about an elongated bruise and puncture marks on the newspaper vendor's leg.
A senior City of London police officer recorded in his log that he did not pass information about marks on Tomlinson's body to avoid "unnecessary alarm or distress".
Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, last week played down allegations of a cover-up.
"There will of course be cases where people do close ranks," he said. "The culture in some parts of policing is, without doubt, a certain internal one, and people feel deep loyal to their colleagues."
But he added: "We can say with some absolute justification that we have one of the most transparent police services in the world.""
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The story can be found at:
http://www.u.tv/News/Ian-Tomlinson-evidence-was-held-back-from-IPCC/6fb29828-b25e-4f78-b18c-35a0aa6b768f
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
