Lancashire Evening Post : 12 arrested in al-Qaida terror swoops

12 arrested in al-Qaida terror swoops

By Matthew Squires | April 8, 2009

Up to 100 police officers - some armed with guns - swooped on the Homebase store in Clitheroe at 5.30pm on Wednesday and handcuffed two uniformed guards in the foyer.

One witness said: "There was police everywhere, some of them had guns.

"They walked in, handcuffed the two guys and put them in the back of their van. No-one knew what was happening."

Police also raided the nearby Brooklyn Guest House in Pimlico Road where the two men, believed to be Asian, were staying.

The Lancashire Evening Post understands the two suspects are employed by a private security firm and have only just started work at the store, which was due to open for the first time on Thursday.

A total of 12 men - all aged between late teens and 41 - have now been arrested on suspicion of having links with al-Qaida after raids at eight properties in Cheetham Hill in Manchester, Liverpool and those in Clitheroe.

Ten of the suspects are Pakistan-born nationals on student visas and one is a UK-born British national.

The counter-terrorism raids - codenamed Operation Pathway - had to be brought forward after senior counter-terrorism officer, Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick was caught on camera clutching a bundle of 'secret' documents as he arrived in Downing Street for a briefing on Wednesday.

Mr Quick has resigned after his security blunder threatened the anti-terror operation, London Mayor Boris Johnson said on Thursday morning.

Stunned residents have told how anti-terror police stormed a DIY store and led away the two security guards.

Minutes later, two Asian guards were brought out, handcuffed and led into waiting police vehicles.

An eyewitness said: "About 50 vehicles filled the car park and the police stormed in and quickly brought the two men out.

"They seemed to know who they were looking for. It looked a well-planned operation."

Officers were later seen removing bin bags full of evidence from the store.

Police simultaneously raided the Brooklyn Guest House in Pimlico Road where the two men - who are not from Lancashire - were staying.

'Sleepy market town'

One resident of Pimlico Road, Adam Howard, 38, said: "At about 5.40 I saw a blue van slow down when it got to the B&B and a silver Ford S-Max behind it and then all the police just ran across the road.

"The door was already open and some of them went round the back.

"I noticed the curtains were closed in the upstairs right hand window but about a minute after the police went in they were open and the light was on.

"I didn't see them bring anyone out but there were a lot of police around and a lot of people in suits. Then the search units arrived.

"In a place like Clitheroe things like this don't happen, it is a sleepy market town."

Police launched swoops at eight addresses in total - including Liverpool John Moores University and two other Merseyside addresses and four properties in Cheetham Hill, Manchester.

Student Daniel Taylor was on the second floor of the building when he heard shouting outside.

He said: "When I looked I saw a man on the floor. Police were shouting at him and one of the officers had what looked like a machine gun pointed right into his head."

In Manchester, two men were arrested at an internet cafe and shop on Cheetham Hill Road.

The raids come just two months after a nine men travelling to join a convoy taking supplies to Gaza were stopped on the M65 near Preston in an anti-terror operation.

The men were later released without charge.

Last month a meeting between the Asian community in Lancashire and Lancashire police was held - but police refused to apologise over the operation.

CNN : Source: 12 arrested in 'very serious' terror plot in UK

Source: 12 arrested in 'very serious' terror plot in UK

April 8, 2009

(CNN) -- British police Wednesday arrested 12 people in a counterterrorism operation, and locations were being searched, authorities said.

Arrests were carried out in a series of raids in northwest England, police said. Participating agencies included Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and the Lancashire Constabulary, according to a statement from Greater Manchester Police.

The men arrested were involved in a "very serious" plot closely associated with al Qaeda and escaped al Qaeda operative Rashid Rauf, whom British intelligence have linked to the 2006 plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners, according to a security source with knowledge of the investigation.

The new plot was not believed to be targeting national infrastructure, such as rail lines, airports or utilities, nor was it clear if the plot was to involved bombs or an assault involving gunmen, the source said.

Details, the source said, were speculative at this point in the investigation.

The source also said authorities don't believe the targets would have been in the north of England, where the arrests took place, and that at least some of those arrested were Pakistanis in the United Kingdom on student visas.

Several hundred officers were involved in the raids, according to a later Greater Manchester Police statement. The men arrested range in age from a youth in his mid- to late teens to a 41-year-old, the statement said. No further information was available, police said.

"Today's action is part of an ongoing investigation and we have acted on intelligence received," said Steve Ashley, chief superintendent of Merseyside police.

"We understand that this kind of police activity can cause concerns to people living in nearby communities. The extra patrols, cordons and measures we have in place have been implemented to make sure we are doing everything we can to reassure the public and maintain public safety."

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, in a written statement, congratulated police for the "successful anti-terrorism operation which has resulted in 12 arrests at a number of locations."

She said the actions were an operational decision by police and Security Services, but she and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown were kept apprised.

Police rushed to make the arrests after press photographers on Tuesday snapped images of the U.K.'s chief terrorism officer as he got out of a car at the prime minister's residence, according to the security source.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick was carrying a document containing the names of those to be arrested, the source said, and the photographers were able to easily read the names when they enlarged the photographs.

But, the source said, the arrests would probably have taken place Thursday, and preparations for the arrests were the reason for Quick's visit to see Brown.

"Tonight, the focus is the ongoing operation. That's my priority," Smith said.

Scotland Yard issued a statement regarding the incident.

"Quick accepts he made a mistake on leaving a sensitive document on open view and deeply regrets it. He has apologized to the commissioner and the colleagues."

Guardian : Security leak by senior Scotland Yard commander Bob Quick prompts arrests in suspected al-Qaida plot

Security leak by senior Scotland Yard commander Bob Quick prompts arrests in suspected al-Qaida plot

Owen Bowcott and Vikram Dodd | April 8, 2009

Counter-terrorist police arrested 10 young men across the north-west tonight in an operation hastily brought forward following an embarrassing security leak by a senior Scotland Yard commander.

The men, detained at John Moores University in Liverpool, an internet cafe and a house in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester, as well as at addresses in Lancashire, are suspected of involvement in an al-Qaida plot aimed at attacking the UK.

At least one is believed to be a student, the others were born in Pakistan.

The arrests were triggered after Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, head of Scotland Yard's specialist operations wing, was photographed this morning clutching sensitive documents as he arrived in Downing Street. Clearly visible on top of a large bundle of papers under his arm was a white document marked "secret" that carried an outline for briefing on a current counter-terrorism operation. He was on his way to attend a cabinet security committee.

Realising the existence of the ­photos of the ­document – which included the names of several senior officers, sensitive locations and details about the nature of the overseas threat – a "D notice" was imposed by the government to restrict the media from revealing the contents of the picture.

Quick had been due to meet Gordon Brown and the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, to discuss police reform. He was also addressing the meeting in his role as lead for counter-terrorism and for the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Tonight Quick apologised to the Metropolitan commissioner Sir Paul ­Stephenson. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Assistant Commissioner Quick accepts he made a mistake on leaving a sensitive document on open view and deeply regrets it. He has apologised to the commissioner and colleagues."

The arrests were led by Greater Manchester police, the force which coordinates anti-terrorist operations in the region. "Ten men have been arrested as part of a counter-terrorism operation across the north-west of England," a statement from the force said. "Officers from the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit, supported by Merseyside police, Greater Manchester police and Lancashire constabulary, carried out a series of raids."

According to initial accounts a taser stun gun was used by armed police to subdue some of the suspects who were arrested at John Moores University. Ruth Jones, a third-year student at the university, told the Guardian that she was preparing to leave for the day when an announcement was made over the tannoy system warning students to stay away from the windows.

"I went upstairs at that point to find a friend and looked out the window to see police with guns standing over two young guys, who looked like they were in their twenties," she said.

A duty manager working near the campus told BBC radio that police had dealt with the situation "very calmly". He said that he saw the "evacuation of the suspects, and then police dispersed the small crowd that had gathered".

Two students were in the university library when the arrests took place and said a "distressed voice" came over the tannoy asking others to stay away from the windows for their own safety.

One, named as Craig, told the BBC: "There was shouting by the police telling them [the suspects] to get on the floor. Everybody was panicking."

Another witness, Nicholas Higgins, told Sky News that security officers had told students to stay away from windows because of fears that there might be a bomb. "I saw the lads [being arrested] lying on the floor," he said. "They were surrounded by police. The police had guns with them."

The arrests were due to happen in ­several days' time, but because of the leak were carried out in daylight, in direct ­contravention of the usual practice of arresting people while they sleep.

Two of those arrested are believed to be British citizens, another two are naturalised but born in Pakistan.

Britain's threat level today remained unchanged at severe general, meaning that officials believed that there was a high risk of attack.

Manchester Evening News : 12 terror suspects arrested

12 terror suspects arrested

April 8, 2009

TWELVE men, suspected of links with al Qaida, were arrested after a series of terror raids in Cheetham Hill and other north west addresses prompted by a security blunder by a senior police officer.

It is understood that three address in Cheetham Hill were searched, including one in Galsworthy Avenue and a cybercafe in Cheetham Hill Road. Police also carried out a raid at Liverpool John Moores University, in Wavertree, Liverpool, and in Lancashire.

It is believed tonight's raids were brought forward following a security leak earlier in the day. Britain's most senior counter terrorism police officer, Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, was caught on camera clutching sensitive documents. He has apologised.

Police sources described the operation as 'significant'. They declined to comment on whether they were connected with any imminent threat.

Cafe

The cafe in the basement of a row of shops on Cheetham Hill Road has a sign outside advertising itself as Cyber Net Cafe and computer repair shop.

Mesu Raza, who lives in a flat above the cafe, said: “I saw police arrest two people and put them in a police van.

“They had handcuffs on, they were Asian men, and the police were armed.

“Two police vans arrived outside the shop and there was more police went round the back. There were many officers and a large number of police vans.”

Galsworthy Avenue

A neighbour who lives next door to a terraced house raided by armed police on Galsworthy Avenue in Cheetham Hill said she thought the men who lived there were from Afghanistan.

Bushra Majid, 33, a housewife, said: “I heard them sometimes in the back yard talking on mobile phones.

“I speak Urdu and they were talking Pashtun, the language of Afghans.

“You can tell between Pakistanis and Afghans and Kurds. Pakistanis and Kurds are whiter and have different style beards. These men were darker with longer beards.”

Shoes

The mother-of-four who has lived next door for seven years, added: “Their house is rented and there is always lots of people coming and going for a few months at a time. There were about six or seven men living there for the last six months.

“Some were aged 45 to 50, others were aged in their 20s. They used to go to the local Al Falah mosque daily. This afternoon I heard a noise at the door and I thought it was the kids playing.

“I opened the door and four or five policemen were on top of a man. They were dragging him along the street and he had no shoes on. They shouted at me, 'Get inside. Get inside.'

“There was a policeman on each corner of the street. They were dressed in black and had machine guns.

“I heard lots of noise inside the house, like people running up and down the stairs.

“There have been lots of terror arrests in Cheetham Hill. You are kind of used to it, but you don't think it will happen next door.”

Machine guns

Billy Mortimer who lives further down Galsworthy Avenue also saw the raid.

He said: “I was just sat watching the TV and I saw a police Range Rover drive up the street, past my house and stop. Then move on, then stop again.

“I got up to have a look and the street was full of armed police with sub machine guns. They had black combat fatigues on.

“I thought it was terrorism straight away. It is a large Asian community and there's been a terror raid further up the street a few years ago.

“They took two men wearing white robes out of the house and ran them up the street, one police on each side, and ran them into the entry where there were even more police. All the street was blocked off by police cars and officers.

“Anyone who went to the door were told to get back inside. It was very fast and very professional.

“After they took them away more police entered wearing gloves and masks and began searching the house.

Safer

His mother, Nellie Mortimer, was given a letter from police explaining a raid had taken place, it stated: “This activity is necessary to protect members of the public.”

Mrs Mortimer added: “This used to be a big Polish and Jewish area, then Asians filtered in. We don't have a problem, everyone gets on and there's never any trouble. I feel safer here than on some estate somewhere.

“Everyone knows each other in the street except that house which is rented so there's always someone coming and going.”

'Call the cops'

Ghouse Mohammed, 28, a student from India studying International Business at Salford University lived next door to the house on Galsworthy Road raided by police.
Mr Mohammed said he had only live there for two months and rarely saw his neighbours.

But a few weeks ago they were having a party and his neighbour came round to complain about the noise.

“He was a guy in his 30s with a big black beard. He said please don't make a noise, children are sleeping inside, otherwise I will call the cops.”

Greater Manchester Police said: "Ten men have been arrested as part of a counter-terrorism operation across the north west of England.

"Officers from the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit supported by Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Constabulary carried out a series of raids within the past hour.

Quick

Mr Quick was filmed clutching sensitive documents as he arrived in Downing Street. Among a large bundle of papers under his arm was a white document clearly marked “secret” and carrying an outline briefing on an ongoing counter-terrorism operation.

The information, which cannot be reported, included the names of several senior officers, locations and details about the nature of the overseas threat.

Mr Quick apologised to Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson tonight following the blunder.

He said he “deeply regretted” leaving the document on show.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Assistant Commissioner Quick accepts he made a mistake on leaving a sensitive document on open view and deeply regrets it. He has apologised to the Commissioner and colleagues.”

The senior officer was due to meet Gordon Brown and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to discuss police reform.

It is not the first time Mr Quick has become embroiled in controversy. Last December he apologised for an outburst in which he accused senior Conservatives of leaking a story about his wife's business interests.

The stories followed hot on the heels of his involvement in overseeing the arrest of shadow immigration minister Damian Green as part of a Whitehall leak inquiry.

ABC : Ooops! Blunder by Scotland Yard Official Compromises Terror Investigation

Ooops! Blunder by Scotland Yard Official Compromises Terror Investigation

Top Counter-Terrorism Cop Accidentally Reveals Confidential Documents

By RHONDA SCHWARTZ | April 8, 2009

An embarrassing blunder by a top British counter-terrorism official, who was photographed this morning carrying a top secret document in plain view, caused an uproar in England today as authorities rushed to round up suspects in a now compromised major terrorism investigation.

The BBC and other British news outlets published photographs of Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick as he was heading to a meeting at 10 Downing Street, in which he can be seen carrying a document labeled "Secret" and which contained details about an upcoming terrorist operation.

Twelve men were arrested in raids involving several hundred officers, according to the Greater Manchester Police, who were also conducting searches at eight locations.

"Although the operation is ongoing, this phase is still in its very early stages, so the information we can release about it is limited," said Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter, head of the North West CTU.

At least ten suspects were later hastily rounded up and arrested in raids across Northwest England, according to the BBC.

According to the British newspaper "The Telegraph" the exposed "briefing note" contained details of the locations and manner of the intended arrests, names of senior officers in charge of the operation and the "media strategy" once the suspects were rounded up.

British defense press officials sent an urgent note to all major British media alerting them "a media agency may be offering a photograph which contains highly sensitive information about a current counter-terrorist operation" and urging them not to publish details of the operation without seeking "advice", but the damage was done.

A Scotland Yard spokesman later told reporters the top counter terrorism official had apologized to his colleagues.

"Assistant Commissioner Quick accepts he made a mistake on leaving a sensitive document in open view and deeply regrets it."

BBC : Terror raids follow files blunder

Terror raids follow files blunder

April 8, 2009

Twelve men have been arrested in the north west of England after Britain's most senior counter-terrorism police officer sparked a security alert.

Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick said he "deeply regretted" revealing a secret document to photographers when he arrived for a briefing at No 10.

The document, clearly marked "secret", carried an outline briefing on an ongoing counter-terrorism operation.

The 12 suspects were later arrested at locations across north-west England.

It is understood raids took place at 10 addresses sooner than planned due to the documents being revealed.

Opposition MPs criticised Mr Quick, with the Liberal Democrats describing him as "accident prone" and the Conservatives condemning his "very alarming" lapse of judgement.

But former Labour Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said it would be wrong for such an experienced officer to resign "for holding a piece of paper the wrong way".

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith made no comment about the officer's mistake. Instead, she praised police for their professionalism.

"The decision to take such action was an operational matter for the police and the security service," she said, adding that she and the Prime Minister had been kept informed of developments.

Some hours after the Downing Street incident, armed officers from the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit arrested a man outside the main library at Liverpool John Moores University.

Students said they heard police shouting at two suspects as they were advised over the library loudspeaker to stay away from the windows for their own safety.

Journalism student Daniel Taylor said: "I saw a man on the floor. Police were shouting at him and one of the officers had what looked like a machine gun pointed right into his head."

Police wearing blue plastic gloves were searching the man, along with a second man nearby, and both appeared to be "ordinary students", Mr Taylor said.

Ten of those arrested are Pakistan-born nationals on student visas and one is a UK-born British national.

Their precise ages are not known but range between a youth in his mid-to-late teens and a 41-year-old man.

Greater Manchester Police said several hundred officers were involved in the operation, including armed officers during some of the arrests.

Five addresses in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester, including an internet cafe, are being searched.

Three premises are being searched in Merseyside, plus a guest house in Clitheroe, Lancashire.

Two men are understood to have been arrested at a Homebase DIY store in Clitheroe, where dozens of police officers carried out a raid.

In Cheetham Hill, witnesses described two men being taken from the cafe after police arrived.

Mesu Raza, who lives in the flat above, said: "I saw police arrest two people and put them in a police van. They had handcuffs on, they were Asian men, and the police were armed."

The counter-terrorism officers were assisted by officers from the Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Lancashire police forces.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter, head of the North West CTU said: "Today's action is part of a continuing investigation and we have acted on intelligence received.

"This phase is still in its very early stages, so the information we can release about it is limited."

Earlier on Wednesday press photographers in Downing Street pictured Mr Quick clutching a white document marked "secret" and containing the names of several senior officers, locations and details about the nature of the overseas threat.

Details of the information revealed cannot be reported.

Mr Quick was attending the meeting in his role as lead for counter terrorism and for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo).

On Wednesday evening he apologised to Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson for the error.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Assistant Commissioner Quick accepts he made a mistake on leaving a sensitive document on open view and deeply regrets it."

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said Mr Quick's judgement had been called into question.

"This was highly sensitive information that should not have been carried under an arm in front of a line of photographers," he added.

Secrets revealed

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick seems to be increasingly accident prone which is potentially dangerous given the serious responsibilities of his role."

Ken Livingstone said: "The idea that we should offer up the person who's at the head of our counter terrorism, with years of experience - a dedicated public servant, for one mistake of holding a piece of paper the wrong way - well, al-Qaeda will be delighted."

Mr Quick, once seen as a "safe pair of hands" by Scotland Yard colleagues, ordered the controversial arrest of senior Tory MP Damian Green over alleged security leaks.

Last December, he accused the Conservatives of involvement in newspaper stories about his wife's hire car business.

It is not the first time secret information has been revealed to journalists who habitually stand outside Downing Street.

Last year housing minister Caroline Flint inadvertently showed off secret Cabinet briefing notes revealing a steep projected fall in UK house prices.

Guardian : Ian Tomlinson death: New video footage from G20 protests gives fresh angle on attack

Ian Tomlinson death: New video footage from G20 protests gives fresh angle on attack

Channel 4 News releases tape recovered from damaged camera showing officer hitting out at Tomlinson with baton

Footage courtesy of ITN/Channel 4 News

[Link to video]

More video: Watch the Guardian's footage of the attack on Ian Tomlinson

Guardian : G20 death: 41 seconds of video that raise serious questions for police

G20 death: 41 seconds of video that raise serious questions for police

• Lawyers say footage of Ian Tomlinson may lead to charges
• Fears crucial information may have been overlooked

Afua Hirsch, legal affairs correspondent | April 8, 2009



The Guardian obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London, shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police

[Link to this video]

The investigation into the death of Ian Tomlinson will inevitably lead to an independent inquiry, lawyers say. And they believe new evidence obtained by the Guardian means the case must be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether criminal charges should be brought against any police officers.

Tomlinson's death during the G20 protest in the City of London is already under investigation. But the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is responsible for considering serious incidents or allegations of misconduct, has said that it is not yet carrying out its own inquiry but managing one being undertaken by the City of London police.

"If there are allegations that the death was caused or contributed to by unlawful actions of the police, then a police investigation would not be satisfactory," said Harriet Wistrich of Birnberg Peirce, the solicitors who represented the family of Jean Charles de Menezes.

"The IPCC should clearly run its own independent investigation which could lead to a referral of the case to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether to bring a criminal prosecution against the officers.

"If there is evidence of an assault, even if there is evidence to suggest there was a lawful defence to the assault, then it has got to be referred to the CPS."

The conduct of investigations into fatal police incidents has been under scrutiny since the death of De Menezes, who was shot by police at Stockwell tube station in 2005. In that case, an IPCC report identified serious weaknesses in the Metropolitan police's handling of critical information.

Experts fear that crucial evidence from the scene of Tomlinson's death may have been overlooked. "Speed is of the essence," Nick Bowen, a barrister, said. "It is absolutely vital that the IPCC approach every investigation of this nature with a completely open mind. In the De Menezes case, they appear to have leapt to certain conclusions presumably on the basis of information that was provided to them by the police, which they should have been sceptical about."

"If an IPCC investigation is going to be effective, then its investigators should be at the scene of the incident ensuring that evidence is preserved at the very earliest opportunity," said Jules Carey of Tuckers solicitors, who has handled a number of police complaint cases. "Cases are solved by effective early action and in this case the golden hour is long passed."

Critics say recent decisions not to prosecute officers, including the De Menezes case where the CPS decided not to charge individual officers despite the fact that the inquest jury disbelieved key parts of the officers' accounts, suggest a prosecution in the latest instance is unlikely.

Figures obtained by the charity Inquest show that in cases where an inquest has delivered a verdict of unlawful killing, there have been only seven prosecutions of officers since 1990. "If you look at the record of cases where somebody's death has been caused by actions of the police, there have been hardly any prosecutions brought," Wistrich said. "The record is really, really poor.

Questions are also being asked about the conduct of the police in the aftermath of the investigation, when contact between Tomlinson and the police - now clearly shown on the footage obtained by the Guardian - was strenuously denied.

"It is likely that there will be evidential difficulties because the incident was not promptly, immediately and independently investigated," Bowen said. "Information about the identification of the officers involved and crucial evidence relating to who may have struck Mr Tomlinson may have been lost."

As well as the potential for losing time-sensitive evidence, concerns have been raised that initial responses denying Tomlinson's contact with the police may have been misleading.

"An IPCC report on the de Menezes case was critical of what they identified as serious weaknesses by the Metropolitan police in the handling of critical information in the immediate aftermath of the Stockwell shooting," Carey said.

Guardian : Ian Tomlinson death: G20 witnesses tell of dogs, batons and an attack by police

Ian Tomlinson death: G20 witnesses tell of dogs, batons and an attack by police

From G20 protesters to journalists to bystanders, those who saw the events leading up to Ian Tomlinson's death speak out

Paul Lewis | April 8, 2009



The Guardian obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London, shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police

[Link to this video]

The main protests of the day had ebbed away but hundreds of people were still penned inside a police cordon near the Bank of England around 7pm last Wednesday when newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson started on his journey home through the City. He never made it. What happened in Tomlinson's final half hour before he collapsed and died of a heart attack is now the subject of an inquiry on behalf of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The Guardian has gathered statements from 15 witnesses who saw Tomlinson to piece together a forensic reconstruction his movements. This directly contradicts the official version of events put out by police in the aftermath of Tomlinson's death. The witnesses accuse police of lashing at protesters and bystanders alike, attacking them with batons, shields and dogs. Officers are alleged to have attacked Tomlinson twice; both times from behind and as he was walking away. Eight witnesses produced photographic evidence, time- and date-stamped, that corroborates their version of events. Three said they saw Tomlinson being assaulted by riot police. Here are their accounts.

A: Marcus Bensasson, 30, photographer, south London

I was taking pictures of police charging protesters and using their batons. It was violent. One charge took people by surprise. They thought they were at a safe distance and then suddenly police - riot police - were charging at them. My photographs show police attacking protesters with batons. One image shows a bystander being shoved in the back with a shield at the very spot Ian Tomlinson collapsed.

B: Dr Justin Meggitt, 40, senior lecturer in religious studies, Cambridge University

I was with the crowd at Cornhill. But when police started coming up I went down the pedestrianised zone, Royal Exchange Buildings, on the Threadneedle Street end.

I saw a couple of occasions when police with batons hit individuals. It wasn't a big row of officers. They seemed to be spread out. There were dogs along the street.

I was pretty disturbed. I didn't expect that kind of violence. So at the time I took pictures and on at least one occasion I went up to the policeman to complain that he appeared to have hit someone, right in front of me, for no apparent reason.

The dog attacks occurred at about 7.10pm, when a police dog, as far as I could see, bit the handler and then bit a man. The man who was bitten was showing people his injuries. I have a photograph. They were very deep gashes in the top of his arm.

Then, as the crowd surged out of Cornhill at around 7.12pm and some people ran down Royal Exchange Buildings, I saw a policeman clubbing somebody. This was a young man - I saw him throw a plastic bottle. The policeman ran at him and clubbed him. He did fall over and then ran away. Then there was another dog attack at 7.16pm. The person was a tall, younger man and the policeman set the dog on him.

And then, soon after that, about 10 seconds afterwards, something happened in front of me where someone was clubbed again. That person was on the ground and they were being hit, at least once. They were on the floor and hit. That struck me as another unprovoked assault. I was really shocked. I know it's difficult policing these things. But these incidents took me by real surprise. It seemed as though individual police officers were taking it out on bystanders for no reason. They seemed extremely pumped up. After that I thought it was unwise to stay in that area because it was extremely violent.

C: Anna Branthwaite, 36, freelance photographer, south London

There had been a situation where a small number of police officers had become outnumbered by protesters in Cornhill, and had retreated into the pedestrian street, Royal Exchange Buildings. It was like, anything could happen right now. Riot officers began to arrive and within minutes the police had regained control around the Threadneedle Street end where I went to stand.

At this point there were probably about 20 officers - some dog handlers, some riot officers. And members of the public - city workers, people watching - were being stopped around the traffic lights although some were being allowed to walk through the pedestrian street that was now relatively clear, with a few protesters still standing around but certainly not a crowd.

The dog handlers began to sweep through the pedestrian street to start forming a police line. A dog barked and I saw one protester was on the floor who managed to get up. That's what drew my attention to that spot. It was then that I noticed Ian Tomlinson, who was walking from Threadneadle Street direction, walking towards Cornhill Street. A riot police officer had already grabbed him and was pushing him.

It wasn't just pushing him - he'd rushed him. He went to the floor and he did actually roll. That was quite noticeable. It was the force of the impact. He bounced on the floor. It was a very forceful knocking-down from behind. The officer hit him twice with a baton when he was lying on the floor.

So it wasn't just that the officer had pushed him - it became an assault. And then the officer picked him up from the back, continued to walk or charge with him, and threw him. He was running and stumbling. He didn't turn and confront the officer or anything like that.

Tomlinson was not confronting a police cordon. He was not in a crowd of protesters being corralled by police. He was walking on the street away from the police with barely anyone around him when he was attacked from behind.

I think the officers were so fired up, it had been very intimidating for them to be outnumbered. When they came back I think this one officer just rushed in and lashed out. And it happened to be Mr Tomlinson. The next time I saw Ian Tomlinson was when he had collapsed about 50 yards down around the corner and surrounded by a group of police officers.

D: Kezia Rolfe, 27, NGO researcher, east London

I saw a man approaching the police line from my right. He was quite tall with a beer belly and short hair. I later recognised him from a picture. He was on his own. He walked up to the police across the Royal Exchange Building, towards the centre left of their line.

He did not appear drunk - he was walking normally. I saw him suddenly fall back as though flung down with force. It was as though he had been spun. He fell and hit the top of his head hard. I was shocked. He lay on the ground for around 30 seconds without moving before a protester helped him up. The police did not help him at all.

E: Amiri Howe, 24, actor/musician, west London

We stood on a ledge near Cornhill. Before he got hit, at the beginning of the whole thing - we were watching the protesters at the Bank of England. Police got into a couple of scuffles with people. They were pushing the line forward, pushing the line forward.

We saw a couple of scuffles happening. Our friends were inside trying to get out - no water, no food, we wanted to get them out. Police started coming forward. Missiles started to be thrown. They came in with their batons, stamping.

The guy [Tomlinson] was stood there. He got hit near the head with a baton. It was like a pencil, he just fell to the floor and hit his head again when he hit the floor. When he got hit, police were coming forwards. I saw him fall so I moved back. But I saw him on the floor and someone picking him up - that's when I took the picture.

If there was CCTV then they will see exactly what happened - which is exactly what I said happened. You see in that corner where the dogs came up, it was proper chaos. After that, I was taking pictures of police and the dog line, and a girl came and said, 'this guy needs help'. He was further back down the road. It was the same guy that got hit. He was wearing the exact same stuff.

F: Investment fund manager, 38, from New York who filmed the attack

The primary reason for me coming forward is that it was clear the family weren't getting any answers. I saw him wandering around [before he was attacked]. He was just taking a look. He just got too close to the police line. [When he was attacked] it was absolutely horrible. I didn't put two and two together. Then I looked at the footage again and thought 'my God, it's the man they pushed to the ground'. It must be him it was minutes later who collapsed.

G: Jasper Jackson, 23, journalist, Paddington

There was an altercation with a protester who had been doing graffiti. He was dragged by police and smashed his head against the door. After a bit of scuffling they withdrew down a side street. The police then brought in a set of dogs and blocked Royal Exchange Buildings. The picture I have of him is of him stumbling in front of the protesters and in front of the police dogs. He looked dazed, a glazed look on his face.

Later, someone shouted to the police with a loudhailer: there's a casualty down - can we get a medic? The police took this seriously. Out of an alley came medics and policemen in riot gear.

There were a couple of people throwing bottles in the direction. A bottle smashed near a Starbucks. Protesters told them to stop it. In fact, threatening to kill other protesters if they did anything to disrupt the treatment.

H: Press photographer 1, anonymous

There were two sets of police and a sort of standoff. Those police started moving forward to try and push the protesters back. If you see the pictures you can see exactly what they were doing. The batons were up, they were moving forward, they were using their shields.

I saw this guy on the ground. I photographed him. I saw there was something seriously wrong with him when I got the first picture of his face. There was a couple of police around him and the protesters were beginning to throw things. Then the protesters were saying, 'stop, there's one of ours down there'.

I: Press photographer 2, anonymous

I was at the police line at Cornhill at the Bank of England. We were being pushed back by the police line. The police were coming forward to cajole people. They were using batons. I moved back and as I was moving back towards Bishopsgate I saw this guy on his back being attended to. A missile was thrown in the direction. But I wouldn't like to say it was intended at police. It sort of landed in the vicinity.

J: Daniel MacPhee, 24, social support worker, Kingston

If the truth be that he died of a heart attack it's not surprising really because it felt like people were running for their lives. I looked over to my left and there was a man lying in the street. Someone shouted out, 'he fell down, over there' - as if to say that he fell down before somehow.

I rang 999. I was on the phone. They said, 'is he breathing?' Then they asked me to put him on his back. So with the help of the person I was with, we managed to get him on to his back.

Not long after that a group of four or five riot police came running out from the crowd and surrounded him. The ambulancewoman on the phone said to me, 'can you pass me to the police?' I said, 'I've got the ambulance on the phone, do you want to speak to them?' They just ignored me.

When the police interviewed me, I said that I saw no violence toward this individual, which I didn't. And afterwards the police said it would take a very brave coroner to proclaim that the cause of death was because he was beaten up, or because of the protests that day. They said it would take a brave coroner to suggest the cause of death was because of any wrongdoing by the police.

Initially I just kind of forgot about it. But it was later on in the day that I thought, why would someone say it would take a brave coroner? If the facts are there.

K: Callum Holden-Cooper, 20, student

He came from the direction of the police and he just collapsed.

He didn't have any blood on his face. He seemed quite out of it. I saw he was breathing. A guy with a loud hailer called out. Four riot police and two medics came around the guy who collapsed. The police line kept moving. The police kept charging forward. We kept thinking we were going to get killed.

L: Elias Stoakes, 25, student, Mile End

There were two missiles that I remember, thrown from the back. The police claim that protesters impeded them from treating him because of a barrage of missiles was completely untrue. Protesters from the crowd wanted to help him. The crowd were extremely angry at people who had thrown missiles. They were mostly concerned about police charging. Earlier on the same street they hit me with batons over my thigh and calf. They were saying things like, 'That got you up. Now fuck off'. I still have the bruises. That was because I was stopping to help someone who hurt their head and they came at me. They pressed the pressure point under my ear to make me move.

M: Medical student, anonymous

We were all running - he was running near me. I probably only noticed him just before he fell. Police were chasing us with their batons out.

Then he fell to the floor. A few other people went over to him as well. Then the police charged everyone again. They were all charging towards us. He was lying with his feet toward the police. I stood in the way with my arms out to stop people from running into him. I said: there's a man down. The people ran around me.

The person on the phone to the ambulance told the police the ambulance service wanted to speak to them. He held the phone out to the police officer. The police officer held the phone and said, 'no, move along, we're dealing with this'.

N: Natalie Langford, 21, student from London

We had been by the police line shouting 'let them out' because of the people stuck inside. It was peaceful at first. The police were saying: move back, move back, and surging forward.

Some students were sitting down on the floor - I was as well. They came in using batons against us. Police came in and began hitting people with batons. My friend got hit quite badly. It was a minute after that we saw him [Ian Tomlinson] stumbling about. He just seemed really disorientated and stumbling. Then he collapsed.

O: Peter Apps, 20, law student, east London

He was outside a shop. I think it was a glass-fronted shop. When I first saw him he was stumbling along the pavement on the left-hand side of the road. He was disorientated and stumbling and collided with the wall that was jutting out of a shop, and then fell over. Someone had called an ambulance. When protesters were giving him first aid, I looked up and I saw a lot of protesters running toward me and the police charging toward them with their batons out.

Guardian : G20 fatality: How police view of Ian Tomlinson death changed

G20 fatality: How police view of Ian Tomlinson death changed

April 8, 2009



The Guardian obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London, shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police

[Link to this video]

The official account of the events surrounding the death of Ian Tomlinson has altered sharply in the past week.

He collapsed and died shortly after 7.30pm last Wednesday, when police were still corralling protesters in a cordon near the Bank of England. A statement issued by the Met at 11.36pm described how police were told by a member of the public that a man had collapsed. Two police medics examined him and called for a London ambulance crew, but the statement said police decided to move Tomlinson, who had stopped breathing, because protesters were throwing missiles at them.

The statement made no mention of any prior police contact with Tomlinson. The following day, journalists were briefed by police that he was not a protester, had not been involved with police or been in a crush and had died of natural causes outside of the police cordon.

Independent witnesses subsequently challenged the account, maintaining that only one bottle was thrown and that one protester used a loudhailer making it clear that a man had been injured and was being assisted by police and ambulance.

The following day the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) confirmed it had received a referral from the police and would make a decision about its level of involvement after considering CCTV footage and post-mortem results. This week, the IPCC confirmed that it would manage an investigation by City of London police into the circumstances of police contact with Tomlinson.

IPCC Commissioner for London, Deborah Glass, said: "Initially we had accounts from independent witnesses who were on Cornhill, who told us that there had been no contact between the police and Mr Tomlinson when he collapsed.

However, other witnesses have since told us that he did have contact with officers. This would have been a few minutes before he collapsed. It is important that we are able to establish whether that contact had anything to do with his death."

Metropolitan police statement
Wednesday 1 April 23:36pm

A member of the public went to a police officer on a cordon in Birchin Lane, junction with Cornhill to say that there was a man who had collapsed round the corner.

That officer sent two police medics through the cordon line and into St Michaels Alley where they found a man who had stopped breathing. They called for LAS support at about 1930.

The officers gave him an initial check and cleared his airway before moving him back behind the cordon line to a clear area outside the Royal Exchange Building where they gave him CPR.

The officers took the decision to move him as during this time a number of missiles - believed to be bottles - were being thrown at them.

LAS took the man to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Directorate of Professional Standards at both the MPS and City of London Police have been informed. The IPCC has been informed.

Guardian : Video reveals G20 police assault on man who died

Video reveals G20 police assault on man who died

Exclusive footage obtained by the Guardian shows Ian Tomlinson, who died during G20 protests in London, was attacked from behind by baton–wielding police officer

Paul Lewis | April 7, 2009



Dramatic footage obtained by the Guardian shows that the man who died at last week's G20 protests in London was attacked from behind and thrown to the ground by a baton–wielding police officer in riot gear.

Moments after the assault on Ian Tomlinson was captured on video, he suffered a heart attack and died.

The Guardian has handed a dossier of evidence to the police complaints watchdog.

It sheds new light on the events surrounding the death of the 47-year-old newspaper seller, who had been on his way home from work when he was confronted by lines of riot police near the Bank of England.

The submission to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) includes a collection of testimonies from witnesses, along with the video footage, shot at around 7.20pm, which shows Tomlinson at Royal Exchange Passage.

The film reveals that as he walks, with his hands in his pockets, he does not speak to the police or offer any resistance.

A phalanx of officers, some with dogs and some in riot gear, are close behind him and try to urge him forward.

A Metropolitan police officer appears to strike him with a baton, hitting him from behind on his upper thigh.

Moments later, the same policeman rushes forward and, using both hands, pushes Tomlinson in the back and sends him flying to the ground, where he remonstrates with police who stand back, leaving bystanders to help him to his feet.

The man who shot the footage, a fund manager from New York who was in London on business, said: "The primary reason for me coming forward is that it was clear the family were not getting any answers."

The Guardian's dossier also includes a sequence of photographs, taken by three different people, showing the aftermath of the attack, as well as witness statements from people in the area at the time.

A number of witnesses provided time and date-stamped photographs that substantiate their accounts.

Some said they saw police officers attack Tomlinson.

Witnesses said that, prior to the moment captured on video, he had already been hit with batons and thrown to the floor by police who blocked his route home.

One witness, Anna Branthwaite, a photographer, described how, in the minutes before the video was shot, she saw Tomlinson walking towards Cornhill Street.

"A riot police officer had already grabbed him and was pushing him," she said.

"It wasn't just pushing him – he'd rushed him. He went to the floor and he did actually roll. That was quite noticeable.

"It was the force of the impact. He bounced on the floor. It was a very forceful knocking down from behind. The officer hit him twice with a baton when he was lying on the floor.

"So it wasn't just that the officer had pushed him – it became an assault.

"And then the officer picked him up from the back, continued to walk or charge with him, and threw him.

"He was running and stumbling. He didn't turn and confront the officer or anything like that."

The witness accounts contradict the official version of events given by police.

In an official statement on the night of Tomlinson's death, the Metropolitan police made no reference to any contact with officers and simply described attempts by police medics and an ambulance crew to save his life after he collapsed – efforts they said were marred by protesters throwing missiles as first aid was administered .

The force said officers had created a cordon around Tomlinson to give him CPR.

"The officers took the decision to move him as during this time a number of missiles - believed to be bottles - were being thrown at them," it said.

Yesterday, the IPCC began managing an investigation by City of London police into the circumstances of Tomlinson's death after the Guardian published photographs of him on the ground and witness statements indicated he had been assaulted by police officers.

The IPCC commissioner for London, Deborah Glass, said: "Initially, we had accounts from independent witnesses who were on Cornhill, who told us that there had been no contact between the police and Mr Tomlinson when he collapsed."

"However, other witnesses who saw him in the Royal Exchange area have since told us that Mr Tomlinson did have contact with police officers.

"This would have been a few minutes before he collapsed. It is important that we are able to establish as far as possible whether that contact had anything to do with his death."

The IPCC added that Tomlinson was captured on CCTV walking onto Royal Exchange Passage.

"This is the aspect of the incident that the IPCC is now investigating," it said.

It was here the video was shot. A post mortem carried out by a Home Office pathologist last Friday revealed Tomlinson died of a heart attack.

Prior to seeing the dossier of evidence, Tomlinson's family said in a statement: "There were so many people around where Ian died, and so many people with cameras, that somebody must have seen what happened in the Royal Exchange passageway.

"We need to know what happened there and whether it had anything to do with Ian's death.

"We know that some people who were at the protest may not feel comfortable talking to the police.

"People are putting pictures on the internet, writing on blogs and talking to journalists. But we really need them to talk to the people who are investigating what happened."

• The Guardian's Ian Tomlinson video is on YouTube if you wish to embed it on your website or blog.

Guardian : De Menezes taught the Met nothing

De Menezes taught the Met nothing

Footage of a police assault on Ian Tomlinson at the G20 demo – moments before he died – suggests their tactics are dangerously wrong

Duncan Campbell | April 7, 2009

The last thing either the government or the Metropolitan police wanted, on the day that Britain played host to the G20 leaders last week, was a death during the demonstrations being staged simultaneously in the City of London. So perhaps it should be no surprise that initially the fate of Ian Tomlinson, the man who died in the midst of the main protest close to the Bank of England, was barely noted.

Although the Guardian reported the death on its front page, almost all the coverage elsewhere ignored it completely or concentrated on a version of events that suggested that the police's only connection with Tomlinson had been to try to rescue him from a baying mob of anarchists. The police were "pelted with bottles by a screaming mob" (the Mirror) or "pelted with bottles as a medical team tried to revive a demonstrator" (Mail). Tomlinson had died "after being 'caught among the mob'" (Telegraph). The BBC TV night-time news the following day made no mention of the death in its main bulletin.

The general overview of the demonstrations in the media was either one of mockery of the protesters or the implication that the City had had a fortuitous escape from complete anarchy. The Sun reported that "foaming at the mouth and smelling of stale cider, packs of protesters lurch(ed) through the city". An occasional commentator was wheeled on to say that the police had not used tear gas or water cannon, as they would almost certainly have done in other countries. The implicit suggestion was that the protesters should be grateful that the authorities in Britain are not like, say, the neo-fascist thugs of the Genoa police who methodically battered defenceless protesters in the wake of the 2001 anti-globalisation protests in Italy. Certainly there were many good-natured police officers on the ground who tried to defuse the situation, and who were as baffled as anyone by their superiors' rigid tactics of containment, or "kettling", that caused so much confusion and tension on the day. At the same time, as many, many witnesses have reported, there were other officers hyped up for a ruckus who behaved, particularly at the Climate Camp in nearby Bishopsgate, after the cameras had departed, with the same sort of random, out of control, violence as that attributed to protesters.

Most of last week's demonstrators were not born when Kevin Gately died a few miles away in Red Lion Square in 1974. A young student from Warwickshire university, he was taking part in a demonstration against the National Front. Lord Scarman conducted an inquiry into what had happened but reached no conclusions. Five years later, schoolteacher and activist Blair Peach died in another anti-racist protest in Southall. In neither case, despite public inquiries, was the truth of what took place ever officially established. One of the problems in both those high-profile cases was that witnesses' versions of events differed dramatically and there was little in the way of objective evidence to prove what many of the demonstrators believed had happened.

We live in very different times now. One of the striking aspects of the 1 April demonstration was that, wherever you turned, someone seemed to be pointing a camera. The police were videoing from rooftops and windows, their spotters pointing out suspects. The protesters were cheerfully taking souvenir shots of themselves with mobile phones on the steps of the Bank of England. The media were there in numbers. The local CCTV cameras are also, it appears, always with us.

Some of the miles and miles of footage that was shot has now been given to the Guardian and shared across the internet. It shows Tomlinson, who was not a demonstrator but one of the many people unable to leave the melee, being thrown to the ground a few moments before he died of a heart attack. Far from the police coming under attack, at this stage Tomlinson is only cared for by a demonstrator. Do the police have their own film of what happened?

What is also striking is that, so soon after the inquest into the death of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, assumptions about a suspicious death should be so swiftly made and the official version accepted so unquestioningly. One of the Met's major problems in the wake of de Menezes was the feeling that misinformation about the circumstances of his death was allowed to linger too long in the public domain.

Of course, the police are under pressure to come up with instant information for the ever-increasing media outlets. A man has died. How? Why? Who was he? It is hardly suprising that the police's best take on the incident – that they were the subject of attack by demonstrators as they tried to save a man's life – is the one that gets passed out and then gets prime position in the coverage. But when did it become clear to the police, from their own intelligence and video footage, what had actually happened to Tomlinson?

The two lessons must be that, as always, we should never assume that the first official version of a death in suspicious circumstances is accurate. The second lesson must be that the police have now to review their tactics for future demonstrations.

A man with a weak heart died. Was he prevented from leaving a scene of mayhem, of police, mounted and in riot gear, of barking dogs and bonfires? We were meant to recall the G20 summit as the start of a new world order. It may now turn out to be a rather less glorious view of the mechanics of law and order.

Guardian : Video of police assault on Ian Tomlinson, who died at G20 protest

Video of police assault on Ian Tomlinson, who died at G20 protest

Paul Lewis and Shehani Fernando | April 7, 2009



The Guardian obtained this footage of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London shortly before he died. It shows Tomlinson, who was not part of the demonstration, being assaulted from behind and pushed to the ground by baton-wielding police

Read the full story of Ian Tomlinson's death at the G20 protests. The Guardian's Ian Tomlinson video is also on YouTube if you wish to embed it on your website or blog

Update: Watch new ITN/C4 News footage giving a fresh angle on the attack

Guardian : Man dies during G20 protests in London

Man dies during G20 protests in London

Day of protests that began peacefully turn sour as man dies during G20 demonstrations

James Meikle, Paul Lewis, Jenny Percival and Sandra Laville | April 2, 2009

[Peaceful protest erupts into violence | Link to this video]

A man died last night during the G20 protests in central London as a day that began peacefully ended with police saying bottles were thrown at police medics trying to help him.

The man had collapsed within a police cordon set up to contain the crowds who had assembled in central London and the City to protest over the G20 summit. There were 63 arrests on the day.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission was being notified last night. Scotland Yard said the alarm had been raised by a member of the public who spoke to a police officer on a cordon at the junction of Birchin Lane and Cornhill in the City.

He sent two medics through the cordon line and into nearby St Michael's Alley where they found a man who had stopped breathing. They called for ambulance support at about 7.30pm and moved him back behind the cordon where they gave him cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

"The officers took the decision to move him as during this time a number of missiles – believed to be bottles – were being thrown at them", said a police statement. The ambulance service took the man to hospital where he died.

A London ambulance spokesman said: "Our staff immediately took over the treatment of the patient and made extensive efforts to resuscitate him both at the scene and on the way to hospital."

The directorate of public standards at both the Metropolitan and City of London police had been informed, the statement said. One protester at the scene said the man was in his 30s and died of natural causes, the Press Association news agency reported.

The man's death ended a day in which the contrasting faces of British policing were on display in London.

The Met called in support from 30 forces across the country to create a 5,000-strong team of officers for at least six diverse demonstrations in the City of London and Trafalgar Square. Outside the Bank of England police horses and riot officers were pushed back by the sheer force of demonstrators – helmets were torn from officers' heads and cans, fruit and flour rained down. In retaliation the police surged forward, cracking heads with batons, using pepper spray and CS gas, and sirens wailed all around.

Three minutes' walk away, in Bishopsgate, smiling officers shared a joke with men and women pitching tents along the road, a family offered them chocolate brownies from an organic food stall and a few lads politely queued up outside the compost toilet tent.

But late last night there was a stand-off as officers moved to start to break up the climate camp that had been set up.

Violence spread as far as London Bridge, with riot police chasing groups of demonstrators, who responded with bottles and other missiles.

Commanders at the Met, who are said to be among the best public order officers in the world, insisted they would not let the city be brought to a standstill.

They used familiar tactics to trap 4,000 people into streets outside the Bank of England in a practice known as "kettling", tightening the cordon when violence flared in one part of Threadneedle Street and a group of protesters, whose faces were covered, broke into the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Commander Bob Broadhurst, in charge of the operation, said his aim was to facilitate peaceful protest. But those peaceful demonstrators caught inside the cordon with no toilet facilities, and little water, questioned the idea that they were being allowed to exercise their right to march.

"The police should let us dribble out when we need to," said June Rogers, a gardener from south London. "We've just come on a peaceful protest. We've got fire in our belly and we want to say something and be heard, we are just ordinary people but they made the situation worse."

Jeannie Mackie, a barrister who had attended the climate camp as an observer, was penned in for two hours after police cordoned off both ends of Bishopsgate.

"I thought it was completely unnecessary," she said.

"I was kept for two hours. Lines of police lined up with their batons and they were completely pumped up and looking to have a go. My feeling was everyone in there was peaceful but they wanted to clear them out." Responding to the police use of the kettling technique she said that although the courts had ruled that it was legal, there had to be a good reason. "I asked one officer could I go and he said no – I might to and cause trouble. I giggled and said that wasn't very likely and he said, 'you can never tell with these people'."

Scotland Yard said a cordon was used because missiles were being thrown at officers. It also said that portaloos and water had been moved in.

Earlier in the day demonstrations had started close to the Bank of England, storming a Royal Bank of Scotland branch, and baton-wielding police charging a sit-down protest by students.

Much of the protesting was peaceful, but some bloody skirmishes broke out as police tried to keep thousands of people in containment pens surrounding the Bank of England on Threadneedle Street.

Some buildings in the City had been boarded up in anticipation of trouble, with staff warned to work from home or dress down.

As protesters began to gather, after 11am, some City workers were seen waving £10 notes at them from office windows.

After the charge against the sit-down protest at students, there were complaints that officers had been heavy handed.

"When people surrounded RBS, I could understand police tactics," said Jack Bright, 19. "We were sat down, trying to have a peaceful protest, but they started whacking us."

Guardian : G20: The strong arm of the law

G20: The strong arm of the law

As witnesses to the way they mishandled today's protests in the City of London, we hold the police responsible for the violence

Rowenna Davis and Sunny Hundal | April 1, 2009

There's little doubt that today's and tomorrow's news coverage will prominently feature the G20 protests and the violence that broke out. We think a broader perspective is needed, because when the mainstream media is so ready to take the police's side, it is too easy to brand the protestors as the only troublemakers.

Four of us were Twittering today for the Guardian, trying to get a sense of the protests right from the heart of the City. The protests were, in the morning, very light-hearted and friendly. There were brass bands, lots of singing, chanting and dancing. There were people handing out fake bank notes, flyers to the "alternative G20 summit" and expounding their own theories on what went wrong with the world.

At around 12:15, Rowenna and I ran into each other and decided to head towards the Climate Camp gathering at Bishopsgate. We slowly made our way out from the front of the Bank of England, down Threadneedle Street, before we were stopped by a wide police cordon. This is when things started to turn nasty. By 12:30, no one was allowed to leave the protest, and no explanation was given. When we asked a policeman why, he said it was simply an order to prevent "a breach of the peace". We said we were journalists trying to cover the protests, but it made no difference. We were stuck.

People were feeling claustrophobic, hungry and aggressive. One woman sat down because she was feeling faint. A few others had just come to see all the fuss, and weren't protesting, but were not allowed to leave either.

It's worth stressing that the police decision to form a cordon and not allow people free movement started becoming a focus point for their annoyance. For a while the chanting was their only form of protest. But we felt like we were in a pressure cooker. By about 1pm, people kept pushing against the police cordon and chanting "Whose streets? Our streets!" A few bits of food and the some paint started getting chucked at the police.

We were at the front line of the police cordon because we wanted to leave, but there was no way to get out. The crowd pushed us forward, the police pushed us back – sometimes quite brutally by using batons against people and hitting some. The police were rattled by the crowd and seemed to have little idea of what their plan or position was – other than to contain us.

With so much anger, other protesters started gathering to see what the fuss was about. When they felt they couldn't leave, they started pushing. The four horses from the protests gathered at the lines ready to charge. They had found a focus point for their anger and started surging forward in waves. When they still couldn't get through, more bottles began to get hurled, gas was released and individuals pushed through more heavily.

Any resentment to do with the financial crisis was now being added to by a sense of injustice towards the police – at one point, it felt the reason we were there had been swallowed altogether. The police, in short, were making things worse.

We've seen this problem time and time again. The police seem confused about their role. They are not there to control the protesters – they are there to manage and safeguard them.

Protesters may also have something to learn. After we escaped the firing line in Threadneedle Street, we headed to the Climate Camp around the corner. Their approach couldn't have been more different. Real turf was being rolled out on the concrete pavements and people were having tea parties and setting up tents. Games were played; there was music and dancing and meditation. These activists were deliberately making the point that while this was a radical protest, it did not have to be remotely violent or aggressive. The atmosphere was completely different.

After our visit to the Climate Camp, we went back to the Bank of England. The situation had calmed down considerably, but several thousand people were still hemmed in around Bank station. They weren't being allowed to leave. When would they be allowed to go to, I asked a policeman. "Not until we've photographed and gotten details of every single one of them," he said. "You won't see some of them until midnight," he added. We were just glad we had managed to cross over the police lines earlier during the pushing and shoving, otherwise we'd still be there.

It's unlikely the media coverage will focus on the peaceful Climate Camp activities. It's also very likely the police will be allowed to blame troublemakers without having to explain why they deliberately hemmed people in and would not allow them to leave – aggravating the crowds. With more free movement, we doubt there would have been any tension to boil over. But protestors are easy targets for the media to stereotype, and today will be no different.

Guardian : Fears police tactics at G20 protests will lead to violence

Fears police tactics at G20 protests will lead to violence

• Met warns of G20 clashes and says officers 'up for it'
• Protest groups raise concerns as thousands set to march

Paul Lewis, Sandra Laville, John Vidal | March 27, 2009

Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to march through London tomorrow ahead of the G20 summit, amid mounting concern that over-aggressive police tactics may incite violence when world leaders gather to discuss the global economic meltdown.

Yesterday, the Metropolitan police was understood to have contacted a number of protest groups warning that the main day of protest, Wednesday, 1 April would be "very violent", and senior commanders have insisted that they are "up for it, and up to it", should there be any trouble.

The force has refused to rule out the use of anti-terror legislation, with Sir Paul Stephenson, the Met commissioner, conceding that the week ahead, in which President Barack Obama will lead a cortege of other world leaders to the UK, will be the Met's greatest challenge.

Senior officers insist there is intelligence that some activists demonstrating against climate change, capitalism, war and globalisation are intent on violence and will try to disrupt the summit. They say that some troublemakers who were active in the 1990s have emerged once more, and that chatter between groups shows they are forging alliances to take their message to world leaders. Some protesters have also promised to storm buildings, taking out their anger over the collapse of the capitalist economy with direct action designed to bring London to a standstill.

However, David Howarth, a Liberal Democrat MP who is leading a parliamentary group of observers at the protests next week, said: "I am increasingly worried that what the police are saying about the protests will end up in a self-fulfilling prophecy. By talking up the prospect of violence they will put off peaceful demonstrators and start to attract other sorts."

Andrew Dismore MP, who chairs the joint common human rights, said police language in recent days had been "not very helpful".

"The police have a duty under the Human Rights Act to facilitate protest and not frustrate it. If they act in a confrontational way and use confrontation language, they will start to provoke the kind of behaviour they are seeking to prevent. There may well be a fringe element that want to incite violence. But that doesn't mean police should criminalise every protester."

The direct action group Climate Camp – which is organising a mass overnight camp in the Square Mile on Wednesday night – claimed yesterday that it had tried to talk to the Met, but its efforts at dialogue had been ignored. Lawyers acting for the group contacted City of London police on 10 March. In correspondence seen by the Guardian, solicitors said they were "willing to liaise" and requested names and contact details of officers.

Subsequent requests have been made with the Metropolitan police. An email sent from the Met on Tuesday said their request had been forwarded to the operation command unit for consideration.

"We've been constantly frustrated by our attempts to talk to the police about the 1st of April," said Climate Camp's Liz Shaw. "They don't return our letters, they say that they'll call us back, and they prevent us from attending public meetings they are speaking at. Surely they would want to enter into some sort of dialogue with us in advance of the event."

Last night Scotland Yard denied that it had received any communication from the group and said it had been looking forward to hearing from them.

The police operation over the next week will involve thousands of officers from six forces. Commander Bob Broadhurst of the Metropolitan police, who is in overall charge, admitted his officers would be at full stretch.

They face the multiple challenges of protecting visitors such as Obama, who is on his first presidential trip to Britain, and allowing the public to demonstrate.

The first test may come tomorrow at the Put People First march to Hyde Park, which is organised by a coalition of more than 100 trade unions, churches ,charities and campaign groups marching under the banner "jobs, justice and climate".

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber will say at the rally: "It is right to be angry as there is nothing inevitable about this recession … Today is the birth of a powerful progressive voice."

There was also anger tonight over the cost of the summit after Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown disclosed the bill for staging the conference stands at £19m.

But Gordon Brown yesterday urged voters not to be cynical about the outcome of the G20, saying he had not travelled the globe this week simply to publish a communique.

Downing Street aides suggested that there may be a follow-up G20 summit in six months, which may also revisit the issue of whether there should be a further international co-ordinated stimulus in 2010.

Lord Malloch-Brown, Gordon Brown's G20 envoy, said yesterday it was "likely" there will need to be a stimulus in 2010, adding the test of the summit will be whether the recession is shallower and shorter than it would have otherwise been.

Guardian : Police officers in abuse case accused of 60 other assaults

Police officers in abuse case accused of 60 other assaults

Met reveals four were subject of dozens of allegations by black or Asian men

Matthew Taylor and Sandra Laville | March 21, 2009

Police officers involved in a "serious, gratuitous and prolonged" attack on a British Muslim man that led the Metropolitan police to pay £60,000 in damages this week have been accused of dozens of previous assaults against black or Asian men.

Babar Ahmad, 34, a terrorist suspect, was punched, kicked, stamped on and strangled during his arrest by officers from one of the Met's territorial support groups at his London home in December 2003.

After six years of denials from Scotland Yard, lawyers acting for the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, were forced to admit in the high court that Ahmad had been the victim of sustained and gratuitous violence during his arrest and agreed to pay £60,000 in damages.

But the Guardian can reveal that the Met was aware for years that the six officers involved were the subject of repeated complaints. According to documents submitted to the court, four of the officers who carried out the raid on Ahmad's home had 60 allegations of assault against them - of which at least 37 were made by black or Asian men. One of the officers had 26 separate allegations of assault against him - 17 against black or Asian men.

The Met has confirmed that since 1992 all six officers involved in the Ahmad assault had been subject to at least 77 complaints. When lawyers for Ahmad asked for details of these allegations it emerged that the police had "lost" several large mail sacks detailing at least 30 of the complaints.

Senior figures in Scotland Yard admit there are concerns about the conduct of the officers. Although the Independent Police Complaints Commission supervised an investigation carried out by the Met, none of the officers has been disciplined for the assault on Ahmad and all but one are still working in the territorial support group. Asked about the string of allegations against the officers, the Met said that all but one had been found to be unsubstantiated following inquiries.

However Fiona Murphy, the lawyer representing Ahmad, said the number of complaints should have led to a thorough inquiry.

"The horrifying nature and volume of complaints against these officers should have provoked an effective response from the Metropolitan police and the IPCC long ago," she said.

Documents submitted to the high court and seen by the Guardian list details of some of the alleged assaults carried out by the officers:

• March 2007: one officer is accused of bundling a man into the back of a police van where he was told to "get on his knees". When he replied this was not Guantánamo Bay he claims the officer grabbed him round the neck and "discharged his CS gas while continuing to hold his throat". He says he was then thrown from the van, leaving him with eye, neck and head injuries. According to the document no action was taken because the complaint was either "incapable of proof" or there was "no case to answer".

• November 2005: two of the officers were accused by a "black male" of attacking him in the back of a police van. The document states that he was subjected to "constant kicking to his head and stomach (approx 12 kicks). Head lifted off the floor by grabbing his right ear and lifting head." The attack left the man with bruising and swelling to his face but the case was not pursued, the Met said, because of "non-cooperation" by the complainant.

• October 2005: the document stated that two of the officers were involved in another assault on a "black male". It read: "In van repeatedly assaulted - kicks to the face, stamps on his head whilst handcuffed." The victim said afterwards he "felt like he might die". Vomiting and blood coming out of his ears, black swollen eye, lip busted, hands very swollen.

• June 2003: two officers accused of beating a "black male" in the back of the TSG van. "The beating continued in the van and in a search room at the station."

The allegations against the officers came to light after the high court issued a disclosure order on 13 February demanding that the Metropolitan police release all "similar fact allegations" against the officers involved in the Ahmad case.

The Met's legal team wrote to Ahmad's lawyers a few weeks later to say that "because of the sheer volume of unsubstantiated complaints" against the officers they would only be able to provide a schedule of the claims rather than the files in time for the deadline.

The schedule outlining 77 separate complaints against the officers was subsequently submitted to the court, along with a sample of complaints taken from 27 files containing some of the allegations. The police said they had lost several large mail sacks detailing at least 30 other files.

During the hearing it emerged that other crucial documents, including the officers' contemporaneous notebooks and a taped recording of an interview with the senior officer in the case, had also been mislaid.

Ahmad's lawyers say they are now calling for a judicial inquiry into the case and seeking a criminal prosecution against the officers involved. Murphy said: "The failure of the Metropolitan police and the IPCC to take effective action long ago against this group of officers can only be addressed by a full judicial inquiry and we will invite the director of public prosecutions to support the family's call for an independent judicial inquiry."

Scotland Yard said that all but one of the 77 allegations against the six TSG officers had been found to be unsubstantiated, because the complainant failed to assist them any further, the complaint was withdrawn or informally resolved, or investigated and found to be unsubstantiated.

The Met said the Directorate of Professional Standards was investigating the missing mail sacks containing 30 complaint dockets. Sources played down the significance of the allegations against the officers, indicating that all TSG officers are often the subject of complaints because of the nature of their job as frontline officers who police public disorder as well as having an anti-terrorism role.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has now been asked to investigate why two of the officers refused orders to give evidence in the Ahmad case at the high court.

The Metropolitan Police Authority said: "The MPA will not tolerate racism or unnecessary force and we are very concerned about the impact this case will have on community police relations in London."

Ahmad was arrested at his home in south-west London. The court heard how officers stamped on his feet and repeatedly punched him in the head before he was forced into the Muslim prayer position when they shouted: "Where is your God now? Pray to him."

After a sustained attack, he was forced into the back of a police van, where he was again beaten and punched before being put in a "life-threatening" neck hold and told: "You will remember this day for the rest of your life."

At one stage, one of the officers grabbed his testicles and he was also deliberately wrenched by his handcuffs - a technique known to cause intense pain.

He has been in detention since he was rearrested in 2004 after a request from the US government over claims that he helped raise money to fund terrorist campaigns. The court heard that no evidence had been produced against Ahmad, and that he had never been charged with any offence.

Frontline force

Created in January 1987, the territorial support group is on the frontline of policing in the capital, and its 720 officers are often the first on the scene of major disturbances. TSG units have policed every march and demonstration in London over the past two decades, including the poll tax protests, BNP disturbances and "stop the City" demonstrations. They also provide anti-terrorism support and have firearm and taser expertise. They will be on the frontline again next month when they help to police protesters who are expected to gather for the G20 summit in London.

Guardian : Metropolitan police pays Muslim man £60,000 damages over 'serious attack'

Metropolitan police pays Muslim man £60,000 damages over 'serious attack'

Babar Ahmad was subjected to prolonged, repeated assaults and religious insults during arrest in south London, high court hears

Matthew Taylor and Rachel Williams | March 18, 2009

The Metropolitan police today agreed to pay £60,000 damages to a British Muslim after a high court admission that officers had subjected him to "serious, gratuitous and prolonged" attack.

The court was told that Babar Ahmad, who is accused of raising funds for terrorism, had been punched, kicked and throttled during his arrest by officers from the force's territorial support group in December 2003.

The Met had repeatedly denied the claims, saying officers had used reasonable force during the arrest.

However, lawyers for the force's commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, today admitted at the high court that Ahmad had been the victim of gratuitous and sustained violence at his home in Tooting, south-west London.

"The commissioner has today admitted that his officers subjected Babar Ahmad to grave abuse tantamount to torture during his arrest," Ahmad's solicitor, Fiona Murphy, said outside the court.

During the hearing, it emerged that the Met had lost "a number of large mail sacks" containing details of other similar allegations against the officers who assaulted Ahmad.

Murphy said the few documents that had not been mislaid should have triggered a thorough investigation.

"The horrifying nature and volume of complaints against these officers should have provoked an effective response from the Metropolitan police and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) long ago," she said.

"Instead, it has fallen to Babar Ahmad to bring these proceedings to achieve public recognition of the wrong that was done to him."

She said other crucial documents relating to the case were also lost.

They included all the officers' contemporaneous notebooks and the taped recording of an interview with the senior officer in the case.

Murphy added: "The papers will be referred to the director of public prosecutions for urgent consideration of criminal charges against the officers concerned and for an investigation as to whether events surrounding the mislaid mail sacks constitute evidence of a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice."

During his arrest, Ahmad was punched, kicked and throttled, the court heard.

Officers stamped on the 34-year-old's feet and repeatedly punched him in the head before he was forced into the Muslim prayer position and they shouted: "Where is your God now? Pray to him."

After a sustained attack, he was forced into the back of a police van, where he was again beaten and punched before being put in a "life-threatening" neck hold and told: "You will remember this day for the rest of your life."

At one stage, one of the officers grabbed his testicles and he was also deliberately wrenched by his handcuffs – a technique known to cause intense pain.

Outside the court, Ahmad's brother-in-law, Fahad Ahmad, read out a statement on his behalf in which he said he was pleased the police had finally admitted what had happened.

"This abuse took place not in Guantánamo Bay or a secret torture chamber but in Tooting, south London," the statement said.

"The path to justice is long and difficult but, as long as you remain steadfast upon it, you will get there in the end."

Ahmad has been in detention since he was rearrested in 2004 after a request from the US government over claims he helped raise money to fund terrorist campaigns.

The court heard that no evidence had been produced against Ahmad, and he had never been charged with any offence.

He is now fighting extradition to the US in the European courts.

An IPCC investigation in 2007 ended with no action being taken against any officer.