A London policeman has been questioned on suspicion of manslaughter over a man's death at G20 summit protests this month, after it was found he died of a haemorrhage and not a heart attack.
Ian Tomlinson, 47, was filmed being hit by a police officer with a baton on April 1 minutes before collapsing in London's financial district, the focus of demonstrations against the meeting of world leaders on the economic crisis.
He had not been taking part in the protests, which lasted two days and were marred with spells of violence.
Tomlinson's death raised concerns about the tactics deployed by police to contain the protesters and was followed by scores of complaints alleging police brutality at the demonstrations.
On Friday it was revealed that the results of an initial post-mortem examination which found Tomlinson had suffered a heart attack had been overturned by a second examination conducted by coroner Nat Cary.
"Doctor Cary's opinion is that the cause of death was abdominal haemorrhage. The cause of the haemorrhage remains to be ascertained," said the statement from the coroners' court but released by his family's lawyers.
Moments later the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), the police watchdog, said that an officer suspended after the death of Tomlinson had been questioned under caution.
"Following the initial results of the second post-mortem, a Metropolitan Police officer has been interviewed under caution for the offence of manslaughter as part of an ongoing inquiry into the death of Ian Tomlinson," it said, adding it could not provide further details at this stage.
Tomlinson's step-son Paul King said his family members were feeling stress mixed with anger.
"First we were told that there had been no contact with the police, then we were told that he died of a heart attack," he said.
"Now we know that he was violently assaulted by a police officer and died from internal bleeding. As time goes on we hope that the full truth about how Ian died will be made known.
"We just want the truth and hope that the IPCC do a thorough investigation."
London's Metropolitan Police expressed its "sincere regret" over Tomlinson's death soon afterwards but said it could not comment specifically on the post-mortem findings due to the ongoing probe.
"The Metropolitan Police Service wishes to reiterate its sincere regret in relation to the death of Ian Tomlinson. Our thoughts are with his family, and all those affected by this tragedy," it said.
Meanwhile, London Mayor Boris Johnson urged a "fast and transparent" conclusion to the investigation and said the police deserved "overwhelming support."
Metropolitan Police chief Paul Stephenson called in government inspectors to examine the force's tactics in dealing with mass protests following Tomlinson's death.
Stephenson has also said that footage of clashes will be reviewed to see if any other incidents need to be looked at.
Nearly 150 complaints have been made to the IPCC about officers' behaviour during two days of protests over the G20 London summit on April 2. Around 70 involve claims of excessive force.
The IPCC is also looking into the case of an animal rights activist, Nicola Fisher, who was filmed being slapped across the face and hit with a baton during an altercation with an officer.
18 Apr 2009Current video footage of Tomlinson's assult shows that CLEARLY without provocation he was beaten.
His hands were in his pockets CLEARLY indicative of a NON threatening intentions.
Some of the masses are slowly waking up from their slumber, and seeing how this Global Economic Crisis, is being lead by the world's financiers to the detriment of the general populous.
No action / jail time will result from the Police Officer's manslaughter.
Any resistance to the New World Order will be met with force, and this is just the beginning of what is to become later on.
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