G20 No Charge

I was going to write about speed cameras today but you will see it tomorrow. Instead I was moved by the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service who found no grounds to prosecute for the death of Ian Tomlinson. He died shortly after he was hit by a baton and pushed to the ground during the G20 protests in April last year. There are reports that Mr Tomlinson was also bitten by a police dog.

There was conflicting medical evidence. It may well be that being bitten, hit and pushed over was not related to his death. It may well be that these actions did not cause substantial harm. Following the conflicting medical advice, the CPS decided to investigate further and this took time, in fact so much time that it became impossible to prosecute on the grounds of common assault. Common assault does not require proof of injury. It is a prosecution based on process rather than outcome, and that is where it seemed obvious that a prosecution was a piece of cake.

The evidence was there for anyone with a computer or television to see. You may like to read my blog entry for Thursday 9th April 2009 in which I was remarkably restrained. It seemed so obvious to me at the time, and it seems so obvious now that all is not well with our police force. I can only hope that further investigation leads to a fair outcome. Why am I thinking of the word incompetent?

Change the world

P.S. I haven't had a comment about the word incompetent so I want to elaborate. The decision makers at the CSP are clever people. I don't think they are incompetent. I think they wanted this decision. If you read my previous blog you will see that I noticed that the police officer was slow in coming forward. Why? I mentioned that the officer was wearing a balaclava and no number for identification. I hope that we eventually have answers but it has only been around 16 months of investigation.