It would be nice if the other police who lied about what happened and attempted to cover it up were charged with something, too, or at least dismissed from the police force.

Once again, that is just unimaginable.

I really, really tried to believe that the Police were a force for good who need the citizenry's support. I really did. That's what good people think, after all?

But I gave up after actually speaking to some police. They were bitter, angry individuals. They considered the lower classes as sub-human and made jokes about genocide and sterilisation. The refused to admit that there was such a thing as a "bad law" or that if there was, that they had a choice in enforcing wicked edicts. The maintenance of order was all they cared about, and getting more power, and more weapons to enable them to bring this about was all they cared about. They didn't even think about individual liberty. Indeed they spoke with utter comtempt about the "I know my rights brigade" as they called them.

Truthfully they struck me as petty, authoritarian bullies. "But we protect you and your family from murderers!" was their justifcation.

Give me a revolver and I'll do that myself - all this gestapo crap is just too much hassle.

"pushed him to the ground, with the result that the man died soon afterwards"

You're comfortable with saying that his death was a result of being pushed to the ground? My guess is that it was, but I lack the medical training to move from something that seems obvious to something that's actually true.

Let's put it this way, PaulH, if he hadn't been hit and pushed to the ground he wouldn't have died that day. I don't think anyone's claiming otherwise.

So, yes, I'm comfortable with saying that.

Note I did not say that the policeman intended to kill him. He was an alcoholic and in poor health, such that getting hit and pushed to the ground could kill him. But that's one of the many reasons why we do not expect the police or anyone else to hit people and push them to the ground without very good reason, such as stopping a crime in progress. I saw nothing of that sort to justify the policeman's action in this case.

Well at least one person is claiming otherwise, because the reason for not proceeding is ostensibly that the coroner said the link can't be demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt.

Similarly, it seems pretty clear to me that that the CPS was always going to take more than six months to make a decision, as that would automatically rule out an assault prosecution. But I don't know that, and there are people who will claim otherwise. So when I make that claim I express it as my opinion, not as a fact.

Jaded Libertarian - To be fair the "I know my rights brigade" can be pretty obnoxious, and I suspect often turn out not to actually know their rights, despite the confident claim. That said, I read some of the coppers' blogs and while I can agree with a lot of their complaints, I also lose sympathy with them when they support keeping the "MOP"s (Members Of Public) disarmed so as to make their jobs less dangerous, while wanting more weaponary and less paperwork for themselves.

"with the result that the man died soon afterwards" is tendentious.

Even if the link with the incident and the guy's death can't be established, is there not even a case to answer for the completely unprovoked assault?

Forgive for displaying my ignorance, but what is to prevent a private prosecution for assault here?

Perhaps it's worth seting up a "Robin Hood" themed fund to privately prosecute the police in such cases?

slowjoe: For common assault it's time-barred, for assault occasioning ABH nothing, however the DPP can take over and discontinue private prosecutions once started.

As someone said in one of the papers, let's imagine that Ian Tomlinson had been caught on video hitting the policeman with an iron bar from behind, and that the policement had died soon afterwards.

Would we now be reading that the CPS was "unable" to proceed with a prosecution and that no further action could or would be taken?

hmm, think think, it's a hard one, isn't it?

I regret to say that, unfortunate tragedy that Mr Tomlinson's death was, I don't believe it was a crime.

There was a widespread disorder in progress at the time and the police were clearing the area in which Mr Tomlinson was located. As the police line approached Mr Tomlinson he can clearly be seen in the video walking in an exaggeratedly slow manner, with his hands in his pockets and enjoying playing with the police. Well, that's not unusual and the law, common law, is quite explicit on that, the police have the right to use force against him to move him from a place without having to arrest him first. Happens all the time. So the police officer shoved him. Yes, he had a baton in his hands, there was a widespread disorder going on, but he did not strike him with it in any video I have seen.

Mr T, then fell over. Happens every Saturday night in one High Street or another. Is there any reasonable expectation that this would result in his death? No, in fact he got up and walked away. He then goes around the corner and dies, from a heart attack according to the pathologist who conducted an autopsy, from internal bleeding say the pathologists who read the report by the original pathologist, but never examined the body. Who knows.

But senior police officers ordered those officers to clear that area. They had a reasonable expectation that their orders would be obeyed and that Force would be used to do so, where necessary. The Force I saw used on the video was lawful, proportionate and necessary, i.e. no criminal assault, no manslaughter, no misconduct. The senior officers then pronounce themselves "troubled" by the video and leave the officer out to hang.

Let's not forget the other "troubling" video of the Police Sergeant who slapped a woman demonstrator, was left to hang by his seniors and was then cleared by the courts who agreed that what he did was within the law, his training and necessary in the circumstances.

I know this post won't be popular, but it's not trolling, it's offered as my honest opinion on what I have seen on the video. I am sorry Mr Tomlinson died. nobody wanted him to die and nobody had a reasonable expectation that he would die, but look at Mr Tomlinson's behaviour before he was shoved and tell me you wouldn't have done the same if you were that copper.

He was a man moving slowly being told by police to hurry up, and he was given a single push. Were it just any sunny day that would be a bad response, but it was not it was in the middle of the G20 protests which have a horrible record of vandalism and confrontations with police.

The hyperbole used to describe this single push is uncalled for. The result was tragic, but certainly unexpected and so far outside the normal outcome of a slow moving person being given a single push that they are unforeseeable.