A newspaper seller who died of a heart attack during the G20 protests was ‘violently attacked’ by riot police, eye witnesses claim.
Ian Tomlinson, 47, was hit ‘near the head’ with a police baton and shoved to the ground by charging riot officers, according to statements received by the police watchdog.
Another witness claims he was bitten on the arm by a police dog.
The Independent Police Complains Commission is examining a series of accounts that allege Mr Tomlinson was a victim of police violence.
He was on his way home from work at a nearby newsagent when he got caught up in the violent protests near the Bank of England in the City of London last Wednesday evening.
Shortly after the alleged assault, he collapsed and suffered a heart attack.
Initially a post mortem carried out by police attributed his death to natural causes.
But this version of events was challenged after witnesses recognised the dead man from photographs that were published on Friday.
An IPCC statement was due to be released the same day and is understood to have portrayed the death as a tragic accident.
However, this was postponed after the watchdog received information that police officers may have been more involved in events than previously thought.
The same police force managed to shoot and kill an innocent Brazilian student in London and get away with it. I doubt that there is sufficient justice available to UK citizens to win anything here.