A jury has delivered a verdict of unlawful killing in the Ian Tomlinson case. I doff my cap in the direction of the IPCC investigator who put such a good case togther. Sadly, it was all too late, after skulduggery at the Yard, the bent pathology and duck-egg Hardwick at the IPCC, who initially denied there would be CCTV evidence.
Harwood should be put on trial for GBH with intent, but this piece of scum is the least of the problems. He should have been sacked within weeks. We have seen civilians (also scum) convicted for substantially less brutality.
I think it’s now time to make some examples of those involved in the skulduggery, and those officers who failed to stop Harwood, or at least arrest him on the spot. Deterrence is the major reason for the legal system and it is hards to think we can achieve attitude change when one reads Gadget’s contributors and her/him at their worst.
There is no point allowing the same old votaries to investigate or make changes – this has repeatedly produced cover-up, and for police to evade real investigations when the evidence is available. Decent cops deserve as much protection as we can give them, and there is a serious problem with false complaints. I believe there are ways forward in this area and that many doing the real work of policing and investigating police incidents would welcome this.
I do not believe we have the best police in the world, though clearly not the worst. And the police are not the major problem in our justice system either. The debate needs to be opened-up. We get poor service and some grow rich in providing it.
Incidentally, what kind of fuckwit thinks a jury of us lot can’t judge between a bent autopsy done by a discredited guy with a record of ‘helping police’ and decent evidence? The kind we let become a votary is the kind.
Good luck to the Tomlinson family. Sue the pants off the Met – I won’t begrudge my contribution. The tedious work done showing “Harwood’s Progress” through CCTV deserves credit. It is a matter of public interest to put Harwood on trial in order to get as much of the dirty linen into the public domain as possible. Sadly, Scumboy was only a problem because we won’t address wider issues.
Allcoppedout's Blog 
Ah, you were typing up this post when I commented on the previous. You’re quite right – farcical grey areas meant that you and I once both worked in the knowledge that even when we used force in wholly correct circumstances, there was still an attitude that it was better to gild the odd lily in order to save your skin. I never found this to be necessary and I hit quite a few people, with total justification, bloody hard.
I disagree. Far more pressing is the need to root out the incompetent and malevolent; the lazy and the corrupt. Complaints procedures can wait until we have the likes of Gadget in the dole queue or behind bars.
I had to do more than hit, as I’m sure you will have Hog. I protected my own and did the guilding – this latter was once my job in NI. I guess I think we were trying to be fair amongst the almost impossible. Something has gone badly wrong and it’s not just in the police. A guy gets sacked for ‘black bastarding’ (and shouldn’t have even for the family concerned) yet all kinds of stops are pulled over a disgrace like this with a death. It’s almost impossible to argue the case. Essentially I want cops and others st the sharp end to have more power and discretion and it’s behaviour like Harwood’s and the cover-up that stops us getting that in sensible proportion,
The first step in dealing with incompetence involves abilities in recognizing and admitting to it Melvin. I don’t really care how we do it. Graham Smith pointed to the failings over many years, predicting the failure of the IPCC.before it started. The current system prevents access to investigation and gives time to cover up evidence.
I concur with the sentiments of Hogday in that, we should all act correctly and be confident we can justify our actions, without any gilded lily! However, my fear is that, those in any form of officialdom often don’t receive the same process of law that others do i.e. innocent until proven guilty, often the reverse. A factor compounded by our media who like to sit as judge and executioner. I also feel, based upon what I have seen, it is likely I would have been counted in the majority within your straw poll.
I completely agree with Hog Dave. What worries me is that not a single officer seems to have been bothered to spot Mr. Tomlinson as vulnerable and do something to get him on his way home.