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Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Ian Tomlinson's death --- Was it manslaughter?

I'm sure that you will have been as outraged as I was at the newsreel footage which showed 47-year old newspaper seller, Ian Tomlinson, being charged, batoned and thrust hard into his back with sufficient force to fell him like a sapling before a whirlwind. Ian was on his way home from work, and as the footage shows, he was walking casually along with his hands thrust deep into his pockets, when the violent action of a so-far un-named police officer brought him to the ground.

The press are careful in using words such as 'apparent assault' in this instance, but the newsreel clearly proves that the innocent Ian Tomlinson was the victim of a violent and unprovoked assault, and as such I believe that the officer concerned should be charged with Ian Tomlinson's death which occurred only three minutes later as the result of a heart attack. I cannot believe that the heart attack was coincidental, coming as it did so rapidly after the assault.

Let's hope that this does not become yet another blame-shifting white-wash case!

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