Police watchdog admits Ian Tomlinson CCTV error

The police watchdog has said its chairman was wrong to say that there was no CCTV footage of events surrounding the death of Ian Tomlinson

FIRST POSTED APRIL 14, 2009

There was a dramatic twist today in the ongoing controversy over the death of news vendor Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests in the City of London on April 1. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has admitted that its chairman was wrong to claim on television that there was no CCTV footage of the events leading up to Tomlinson's death.

The news implies that footage may yet exist of earlier confrontations between Tomlinson and the police - or even of the moment of death – to back up the now famous video footage caught by an American hedge funder and handed in to the Guardian, where it was posted online on April 7.

Tomlinson, 47, collapsed and died of a heart attack only minutes after appearing to be struck with a baton and pushed to the ground in Royal Exchange Square by a policeman wearing full riot gear.

Ian Tomlinson is treated by police medics after collpasing at the G20 protests

Tomlinson was apparently walking away from police lines, on his way home. He was not involved in the demonstrations. The policeman, caught on the Guardian's footage, has since identified himself and been suspended from duty.

The day after the IPCC took over the investigation of Tomlinson's death from the City of London police, the body's chairman, Nick Hardwick, told Channel 4 News: "We don't have CCTV footage of the incident... there is no CCTV footage, there were no cameras in the location where he was assaulted."

A press spokesperson for the IPCC said today that while Hardwick thought he was correct in his assertion, the watchdog now knows there are cameras in the surrounding area: "From the outset it has been a main line of our inquiry to recover all CCTV from the Corporation of London and from all private premises in the area."

The announcement follows reports at the weekend that Tomlinson's family could face a three-year wait for an inquest into his death. Legal experts said that pressures on the coroners' system were "frustrating the grieving process" for victims' relatives.

The IPCC today renewed calls for the public to come forward with any information on the attack.