Scotland Yard apologises over death of man in G20 protest

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Ending a four-year legal battle, the Scotland Yard Monday apologised “unreservedly” and reached an out-of-the-court settlement with the family of a newspaper vendor who was killed during protests against the G20 summit here.

The metropolitan police service admitted for the first time that Ian Tomlinson was unlawfully killed by one of their officers who used “excessive force” and reached an out of court settlement in the case.

“I apologise unreservedly for Simon Harwood’s use of excessive and unlawful force which caused Mr Tomlinson’s death, and for the suffering and distress caused to his family as a result,” Met’s deputy assistant commissioner Maxine de Brunner said in a statement here.

Ian, 47, had been walking home when he was struck with a baton and pushed to the ground by policeman Simon Harwood during protests in the city against the annual summit of the world’s major economies.

An inquest jury had found that Ian was unlawfully killed, but Harwood was cleared of manslaughter at a trial at Southwark Crown court last year.

He was later sacked following a disciplinary inquiry by the metropolitan police for gross misconduct.

Julia Tomlinson, the deceased’s widow, said the apology was “as close as we are going to get to justice.”

“Today’s apology and admission by the metropolitan police that their officer unlawfully killed Ian marks the end of our campaign and legal case... It will always be painful for us that Ian died so violently, but at least he is at rest now, and the force has publicly acknowledged the truth. We hope that lessons have been learnt and that other families will be spared the tragedy and ordeal that we have had to face,” Julia said in her statement.

Julia and seven of Ian’s children and stepchildren had pursued the compensation claim, the amount of which has not been disclosed.

Ian became the face of heavy-handed tactics used by the police force when he was caught up in the G20 demonstrations in London as he walked home in April 2009.

Ian’s encounter with Harwood was caught on film by a bystander who passed the footage to the Guardian newspaper.