Troubling statements came from the City of London coroner's office Friday regarding its findings from a second autopsy of Ian Tomlinson, the man who died during the G-20 protests earlier this month. The coroners now say that Tomlinson died from a hemorrage in his stomach, and not from a heart attack as was originally thought, the Guardian reports. Tomlinson, a newspaper salesman who was heading home during the protests, was accosted by police officers and knocked to the ground, as the following video shows. Following the release of the video, the police officer shown striking Tomlinson came forward and was suspended by the police department pending further investigation.
Now, according to the Telegraph, the officer in question could be facing manslaughter charges. From the Telegraph:
A Metropolitan police constable seen in video footage appearing to shove Mr Tomlinson to the ground from behind, minutes before he collapsed, has been interviewed under caution over accusations of manslaughter.
A spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints Commissioner said: "Following the initial results of the second post mortem, a Metropolitan Police Officer has been interviewed under caution for the offence of manslaughter as part of an on-going inquiry into the death of Ian Tomlinson."
The officer, from the Met's Territorial Support Group, has been suspended from duty and signed off sick after apparently suffering a panic attack when the story and footage emerged.
Here is a copy of the coroner's Friday press briefing, via the Guardian:
"On 9 April 2009 HM Coroner for the City of London opened and adjourned the inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson. In so doing he received evidence of identification and the provisional findings and opinion as to the medical cause of death from a report prepared by the consultant forensic pathologist, Dr F Patel, instructed by HM Coroner to conduct the post-mortem examination. The pathologist's final opinion must await the completion of additional tests.
"Dr F Patel made a number of findings of fact including descriptions of a number of injuries and of diseased organs including the heart and liver. He found a substantial amount of blood in the abdominal cavity. His provisional interpretation of his findings was that the cause of death was coronary artery disease.
"A subsequent post-mortem examination was conducted by another consultant forensic pathologist, Dr N Cary, instructed by the IPCC and by solicitors acting for the family of the late Mr Tomlinson. Dr Cary's provisional findings and his interpretation of the findings have been provided to HM Coroner in a further preliminary report (the final report once again awaiting the outcome of further tests). Dr Cary's opinion is that the cause of death was abdominal haemorrhage.
"The cause of the haemorrhage remains to be ascertained. Dr Cary accepts that there is evidence of coronary atherosclerosis but states that in his opinion its nature and extent is unlikely to have contributed to the cause of death. The opinions of both consultant pathologists are provisional and both agree that their final opinions must await the outcome of further investigations and tests. These are likely to take some time. The IPCC's investigation into the death of Ian Tomlinson is ongoing."