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Newspaper seller muttered 'they have got me, the fuckers got me' moments before he died, G20 inquest hears
Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller knocked down by a police officer at the G20 protests in 2009, muttered "they have got me, the fuckers got me" moments before he died, a witness has said.
The inquest into Tomlinson's death has heard how the father of nine was struck with a baton and pushed to the ground by PC Simon Harwood minutes before he died in the City of London.
A jury at the inquest has heard how Tomlinson was repeatedly turned away from police cordons near the Bank of England on the evening he died.
The 47-year-old had been attempting to find his way home when he finally encountered Harwood, a member of the Met's territorial support group, on Royal Exchange Buildings at around 7.20pm on 1 April 2009.
In his evidence Harwood, a van driver, said Tomlinson had been walking away from officers and posed no threat to him or anyone else when he struck him. Harwood said his believed his action had been "proportionate" because the newspaper seller presented a breach of the peace.
The heavy push sent Tomlinson sprawling to the ground and, minutes later, after stumbling around 100 yards down along Cornhill, he collapsed and died.
His fall to the ground was seen by Kamran Saleem, charity manager. He told the inquest Tomlinson had been swaying before he fell outside a Starbucks coffee shop.
"Just before I saw him fall over when he was coming up he kind of shook his head as if to like clear his head," he said. "And that was when he fell into the wall on his left hand side. It was like he was not in charge of his body, it was like a tree falling over. His arms were by his side and there was no reaction when he hit the wall."
Saleem told the jury that when a bystander went to help, the newspaper seller said: "They have got me, the fuckers got me." He added that Tomlinson's voice sounded "quieter than normal, but it was kind of like an anger … more surprised than anything else".
Saleem also described "bottles and things" being thrown at police when they went to the newspaper seller's assistance. However, when shown footage and photographs of the scene, the witness, who previously worked for City of London police, accepted they did not show evidence of missiles being thrown.
In a statement read to the court, BBC reporter Daniel Boettcher said he saw plastic bottles or cans being thrown, but "none being thrown directly at officers".
Another witness, Peter Apps, told the inquest he saw one glass bottle thrown at a street sign "some distance" from police, but said there were no more missiles.
His sister, Lucy Apps, told the jury she went to Tomlinson's aid on Cornhill, speaking to him before he lost consciousness. The newspaper seller gave no indication he was in pain, she said. He then suddenly stopped responding and she put him in the recovery position.
When police arrived she was shouted at and pushed away from the scene. Another man who was on the phone to the ambulance service tried to pass the phone to a police officer, but was also moved, she said.
PC Carolyn Waller, a police medic, said the crowd was hostile and there was little that medics could do for Tomlinson without a defibrillator. "There were objects being thrown at us and I was concerned Mr Tomlinson was unprotected. We were wearing protective clothing but obviously he was not," she said. "At that point our main priority was to move Mr Tomlinson to a secure area or sterile area."
In other evidence, Tomlinson's GP said he had been taken to hospital 10 times in the two years before he died after falling over while drunk. "He had a chronic alcohol dependence syndrome and he had evidence of physical harm to his body by alcohol including his liver," Dr David Vasserman said.
He said Tomlinson was a very heavy drinker, had an enlarged spleen and liver and suffered from a condition called periphery neuropathy, which affected his nervous system and made him generally unsteady on his feet.
The inquest continues.