Nadine El-Enany

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/19/simon-harwood-police-officer-not-guilty

PC Simon Harwood has been found not guilty of the manslaughter of Ian Tomlinson at the 2009 G20 protest. As Tomlinson walked home from work, hands in his pockets, Harwood hit him with a baton and shoved him to the ground. The court has seen footage of Harwood’s attack on Tomlinson, who is seen walking away from the police line. As a female officer steps forward to talk to Tomlinson, Harwood passes two police dogs in order to hit and push Tomlinson to the ground. Tomlinson barely has enough time to take his hands out of his pockets to protect himself as he falls. He died shortly afterwards.

Harwood told the court that his actions were justifiable within the context of the widespread disorder of that day, and the jury heard conflicting medical evidence on whether Harwood’s attack had caused Tomlinson’s death.

The Human Rights Act guarantees everyone the right to life. In practice, this has been interpreted as requiring the state to investigate deaths linked to the authorities and hold accountable those responsible for unlawful killings. In spite of this guarantee, in reality, it has proved well nigh impossible to hold anyone accountable for deaths in which police officers may be implicated. No police officer has been convicted of manslaughter for a crime committed while on duty since 1986, though since then hundreds have died in police custody or after contact with the police.

Time and again, the CPS has proved unwilling to prosecute police officers. More than 1,000 people have died in police custody since the 1960s (more than 300 between 1999 and 2010) and in only one case, in 1969, has a police officer been convicted. Instead, the families of those killed are forced to take on the state. It is only as a result of the pressure his family put on the government that an inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson took place. In the course of the inquest, at which Harwood gave evidence, it became apparent that there were questions to answer about his conduct towards Tomlinson. The CPS could no longer refuse to prosecute Harwood with the evidence against him now in the public domain. At present, the state’s fulfilment of its obligation to respect the right to life depends on the perseverance of grieving families in relentlessly pursuing the authorities.

Just round the corner from Southwark crown court, where the Harwood trial has been heard, the inquest into the death of Sean Rigg has been taking place at the same time. Rigg died in police custody in 2008 after being arrested and restrained by police officers. Since then, his family has been fighting for answers to their questions about the circumstances in which Rigg died. What is astounding is the number of family members of other people who have died in police custody in the public gallery at the Rigg inquest.

In the course of his trial, the prosecution presented Harwood as a “bad apple” in the company of otherwise sound and peaceful fellow officers on the day of the G20 protest in 2009. There is no denying that he behaved in a rough manner – the court was treated to scenes of Harwood pushing a BBC cameraman to the ground, shoving a cornered protester and thrusting a coat in the face of another.

Painting Harwood as a “rotten egg” failed to secure a conviction, but it also belies the thuggery and violence that pervades the police force. Harwood’s actions were not exceptional. Not only have hundreds died in police custody, but also police violence at public events is commonplace, most recently during the student demonstrations of 2010, during which anti-fees protesters were charged at by officers on horses, atacked with batons and kettled late into the night. In a statement today, Defend the Right to Protest has highlighted the importance of “supporting all those in their struggle to hold the police accountable for their actions, whether on demonstrations, in our communities or in custody”.

Deborah Coles, co-director of Inquest, has described the Harwood verdict “as a damning reflection of the systemic problems inherent in the current investigation system … It is vital that the rule of law is upheld and applies equally to all, including police officers, and that they do not believe that they can act with impunity.” Harwood was found not guilty by a majority of the jury, but we should be pleased that at least the case was heard – thanks not to a government or criminal justice system determined to hold police officers responsible for their actions, but to the perseverance of the Tomlinson family in their pursuit of justice.