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Activists contributed to death says Tory MP
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent16 Apr 2009
A TORY MP who is a special constable in London today partly blamed G20 protesters for the death of Ian Tomlinson.
David Davies also accused the demonstrators of seeking to exploit the fatality for political purposes.
The Monmouth MP, who serves as a special constable with the British Transport Police in the capital, warned of a “witch-hunt” against police and argued there could have been deaths if officers had let the protests get out of control.
“The G20 organisers who are now so keen to turn the sad death of Mr Tomlinson into a political statement should remember that they went out that morning to a protest knowing that there was likely to be violence,” he wrote on the ConservativeHome website.
He later told The Standard: “Their actions must have contributed as much to the level of stress that he was under as the actions of the police.”
Mr Davies believes people should have avoided the protests as they were expected to be violent.
He backed the investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into Mr Tomlinson's death.
He added: “London is not toytown, it is a violent place and people are being naive if they think that officers should put themselves at risk by acting like Pc Plod.”
Reader views (11)
He's right.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 17/04/2009 09:44
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It's incredible that the demonstrators are seen as innoccent and blameless.
- Joe, Swanley Kent, 17/04/2009 09:25
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Naivety - well maybe - I have been in riots, this was a demo not a riot. However, with wrong tactics and unprofessional officers you can turn a demo into a riot. Usually there is a hard core out to cause problems, the tactics of "kettling" is a perfect nonsense,it turns ordinary demonstrators against you. It was very difficult when petrol bombs are exploding around you to comply with the "rules of engagement" . React with anger rather than professionlism and the next riot will be the one you did not want to face.
- Alex, Soton, 17/04/2009 06:21
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I am so sorry, I really am. To me the way some of the police (not all) but quite a few behaved, reminded me of the Nazi's. I am truthfully very frightened for Britain if this continues. And because I am frightened I will make sure I go to as many Marches as I can, so that the government will stop instructing OUR police to behave in such a manner and start to listen and this time HEAR. Before it is to late.
- Angel, London lewisham, 17/04/2009 03:15
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But there were deaths , and the police did get out of control.
- Chris M, morbihan , france, 16/04/2009 17:41
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About time an MP stood up and vocally supported the Police in this mess.
People seem to forget that there were thousands of miscreants and reprobates marching the streets in protest to the G20 meeting. These idiots clearly share a considerable portion of blame, if not all, for this persons death.
Personally, I believe they should have been dealt with more firmly than they were.
- Eoin Mcgreeghan, Derry, NI, 16/04/2009 17:36
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If the police had to have a debate with every protester that didn't want to comply with police instructions then it would be impossible to maintain order at these events. It seems to me that it was obvious what the police officer wanted the young women to do (i.e. move away) and a whack across the back of the legs as a means of firm but controlled persuasion doesn't seem unreasonable to me. The cuff across the face does seem accidental having watched the film a few times.
I agree the Police should all be warring their identification badges. But I am sure they are not, exactly because of the sort of which-hunts that have been going on over the past few days.
- Peter, London, 16/04/2009 17:08
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The whole point of a police presence at demonstrations or any public event is the keeping of public order, not to pick a fight. Further; the failure to wear shoulder number badges as is evident in many photos & videos should construed as being out of uniform & hence not legally on crowd-control duty, anyone without their badges but appearing on duty should face criminal charges (maybe impersonating an officer?). There should be no legal protection for these partially uniformed animals.
- Mac, Marlow, UK, 16/04/2009 16:08
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So a slightly built woman among a few hundred gathered to protest about Mr Tomlinson's death, remonstrates with a heavily built policeman who responds by hitting her across the face with a gauntlet and then thwacking her legs with a police baton - all the while concealing his identity by having removed his number tag. And she had it coming? Since when did remonstrating with a policeman become an offence punishable by being assaulted by the police? I am glad Mr Davies is not my MP or he would just have lost my vote.
- Mrs Jackson, London England, 16/04/2009 15:58
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Good on David Davies for speaking the truth on this. All these "allegations" and hysterical exagerations have the air of a witch hunt about them. What are people truly suggesting here? Stopping the police from controlling potentially violent protests? The naivity in some of the comments is striking, as is the level of bias against the police, who did a good job in the circumstances.
- H Morgan, London, 16/04/2009 15:05
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If I were working in London, or a simple tourist in the capital I would certainly have gone out of my way to avoid the protests, but what about those who are unable to because they have to make a living in these hard times, innocently going about their daily business.
- Mark, Milan, Italy, 16/04/2009 15:01
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