Tomlinson – Met apology & family response

Today the Metropolitan police force finally issued an apology for the unlawful killing of Ian Tomlinson.  Commissioner de Brunner’s statement included the acknowledgement that “I take full responsibility for the actions of Simon Harwood on 1 April 2009. His actions fell far below the standard we expect from our officers. I accept the finding of the inquest that Mr Tomlinson was unlawfully killed”.  The full apology can be found at http://content.met.police.uk/News/Public-Statement-and-Deputy-Assistant-Commissioner-de-Brunners-apology-to-the-Tomlinson-family/1400019013635/1257246745756

In response, the family of Ian Tomlinson, who have been represented since 2009 by Tuckers’ Partner Jules Carey issued a statement in response.  Julia Tomlinson on behalf of the whole family said “We were completely in the dark until a week after his death when we saw the video capturing the violent assault on him by PC Harwood. It was, and still is a shocking video. We knew that Ian had been unlawfully killed by the officer as soon as we saw the video, but we had to first go through the long legal process of taking apart untruthful accounts given by PC Harwood and other police officers. We should not have had to do this.”  The full statement on behalf of the family can be found at www.tuckerssolicitors.com/tomlinson-family-statement-5-8-13/