Police and IPCC manipulated Tomlinson family in cover-up attempt
Reading the Guardian this morning is heartening as it confirms the suspicions of this blog from the very start: the police put out a lie to cover their tracks and then manipulated the family to keep the lie on the road. Here's that big lie again:
'Guidance' given to journalists last Thursday (2 April) by the City Of London police steered the media into the 'pre-existing condition' line:
Requests by the Guardian to speak to the family were refused. On Friday the Guardian got hold of the first photograph. The police were not shown the pic but according to the Guardian were aware of allegations of an 'altercation' - anyone doing a search on the web at the time would have come across countless witness statements to this effect, and worse. But the the family were not told about any of this by the police who were shielding them, although a statement was put out which seemed as if it had been written by the police themselves complaining about journalists and bloggers and the need to wait for the outcome of the IPCC 's 'assessing' . How convenient.
On Saturday we got the post mortem results. "Independent approaches to the coroner were met with a refusal to comment." You better believe it. I had a conversation with the coroner's officer and made the point that the delay might impair the usefulness of the medical examination for finding out the cause of death. No comment. Why the delay? No comment.
During a memorial service for Ian attended by the family, the Guardian managed to make contact. The police liaison officer told the Guardian not to contact the family again for '48 hours'. The IPCC added to the cover-up attempts by telling the media there was 'nothing in the story' about allegations of a police assault on Mr Tomlinson.
On Tuesday night the IPCC asked the Guardian to remove the fund manager's video (who seems to have shown more investigative impulse than the combined ranks of the British media and IPCC - with the exception of the Guardian), but thankfully the Guardian refused its request.
"The officers gave him an initial check and cleared his airway before moving him back behind the cordon line to a clear area outside the Royal Exchange Building where they gave him CPR,"They have refused to tell us or the Guardian why it took so long to announce his death - we made it fours hours not three as the Guardian states. The police have also still not revealed the provenance of the 'rain of missiles' story.
"The officers took the decision to move him as during this time a number of missiles - believed to be bottles - were being thrown at them.
'Guidance' given to journalists last Thursday (2 April) by the City Of London police steered the media into the 'pre-existing condition' line:
"His family were not surprised to hear what had happened," the guidance went. When pressed about the nature of the inquiry and whether Mr Tomlinson had any contact with officers, journalists were told speculation "upset the family".The police were using the family as a shield to deflect any proper investigation of what happened to Ian. The family no doubt were willing to accept the police line that it was protesters who stopped their medics getting to Ian's aid, given the background of lies about 'violent protesters' orchestrated in the run-up to the G20 protests.
Requests by the Guardian to speak to the family were refused. On Friday the Guardian got hold of the first photograph. The police were not shown the pic but according to the Guardian were aware of allegations of an 'altercation' - anyone doing a search on the web at the time would have come across countless witness statements to this effect, and worse. But the the family were not told about any of this by the police who were shielding them, although a statement was put out which seemed as if it had been written by the police themselves complaining about journalists and bloggers and the need to wait for the outcome of the IPCC 's 'assessing' . How convenient.
On Saturday we got the post mortem results. "Independent approaches to the coroner were met with a refusal to comment." You better believe it. I had a conversation with the coroner's officer and made the point that the delay might impair the usefulness of the medical examination for finding out the cause of death. No comment. Why the delay? No comment.
During a memorial service for Ian attended by the family, the Guardian managed to make contact. The police liaison officer told the Guardian not to contact the family again for '48 hours'. The IPCC added to the cover-up attempts by telling the media there was 'nothing in the story' about allegations of a police assault on Mr Tomlinson.
On Tuesday night the IPCC asked the Guardian to remove the fund manager's video (who seems to have shown more investigative impulse than the combined ranks of the British media and IPCC - with the exception of the Guardian), but thankfully the Guardian refused its request.
By now Tomlinson's family had found their own voice. They told the Guardian: "Now we do know police did have contact with him. Thanks for everything you have done so far."Thanks to the Guardian
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What is more concerning, is the bigger cover up, that violence was instigated by the police from the outset, and the behaviour of the officer involved in the death, was typical of officers throughout the day, and was the catalyst for the violent reactions from protesters. A sky news report shows a similar attack on a photographer, using a riot shield, but this was quickly brushed aside by the news anchor.
ReplyDeleteKeeping 1000 people without food water and toilet facilities in a cordon for 8-10 hours seems to me to be a breach of human rights, but the details of this have similarly been played down by the media.