Family of Ian Tomlinson appeals for witnesses to what happened to him

About 50 minutes [12:45 BST] ago PA released an appeal for witnesses from Ian Tomlinson's family.

From the BBC: (the link was placed at the bottom of the UK section of the site). The full report does not make it clear to the reader that the IPCC has moved from a position of merely 'assessing' whether to hold an investigation to actually holding one.

A statement from the family said: "Ian was a massive football fan and would have looked distinctive in his Millwall top.

"He was probably on his way back from work to watch the England match and got caught up in the crowds.

"People are putting pictures on the internet, writing on blogs and talking to journalists.

Ian Tomlinson

"But we really need them to talk to the people who are investigating what happened.

As followers of the case, and this blog, will know, countless witnesses have already come forward, but this has not until recently been reported widely across the media or initially taken seriously by the authorities - something which some of us have been campaigning about.

Now with the family's renewed appeal as well, the investigators should be able to gather enough evidence to get a very good idea of what happened to Ian Tomlinson.