http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/sep/17/simon-harwood-sacked-gross-misconduct?fb=native
"It's like they have just let PC Harwood resign. The conflicting verdicts of the inquest and criminal court still need to be resolved. We haven't given up; we will now be looking to the civil courts for the final judgment on who killed our dad.
An appalling and totally inept cover up and whitewash of a killing. The initial inquest recorded a verdict of "unlawful killing" and since then there has been a systematic and swift programme to sanitise the events, into an action by a rouge officer culminating in no more than his dismissal for "gross misconduct". This grotesque sequence events has robbed Ian Tomlinson's family of any justice. Even the police disciplinary hearing into the conduct of PC Simon Harwood, degenerated into farce, lasing less than half a day when, by a cleaver but cynical piece of legal footwork, an admission of misconduct resulted in the panel sitting in public for the first time in the Met's history, decided not to continue hearing into whether Harwood's actions contributed to Tomlinson's death. Thus, a hearing which would have looked into the depths of the events and was likely to last weeks, was over in a few hours. The subsequent televised statement from Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Maxine de Brunner saying that she takes full responsibility for PC Simon Harwood and apologising to the family of Ian Tomlinson, was an unsatisfactory footnote to the days events and, in my view, in no way finalises the matter. The family may pursue the case in the civil courts. They deserve the support of all of us.
"It's like they have just let PC Harwood resign. The conflicting verdicts of the inquest and criminal court still need to be resolved. We haven't given up; we will now be looking to the civil courts for the final judgment on who killed our dad.
An appalling and totally inept cover up and whitewash of a killing. The initial inquest recorded a verdict of "unlawful killing" and since then there has been a systematic and swift programme to sanitise the events, into an action by a rouge officer culminating in no more than his dismissal for "gross misconduct". This grotesque sequence events has robbed Ian Tomlinson's family of any justice. Even the police disciplinary hearing into the conduct of PC Simon Harwood, degenerated into farce, lasing less than half a day when, by a cleaver but cynical piece of legal footwork, an admission of misconduct resulted in the panel sitting in public for the first time in the Met's history, decided not to continue hearing into whether Harwood's actions contributed to Tomlinson's death. Thus, a hearing which would have looked into the depths of the events and was likely to last weeks, was over in a few hours. The subsequent televised statement from Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Maxine de Brunner saying that she takes full responsibility for PC Simon Harwood and apologising to the family of Ian Tomlinson, was an unsatisfactory footnote to the days events and, in my view, in no way finalises the matter. The family may pursue the case in the civil courts. They deserve the support of all of us.
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