G20 Ian Tomlinson conclusion
Discussion
grumbledoak said:
Seight_Returns said:
If he'd been at that place and time with the intention of involving himself in the protest then fair enough - but if all he did was go to his place of work to sell newspapers like he did every day, as we beleive to be the case
Guess again. His route through London that day was plotted as part of the original reporting. He quite clearly wasn't just going home...Thomlinson walked up King Williams Street until he met a police cordon at King William Street and Lombard Street. He is thought to have then turned down Lombard Street and gone North towards Cornhill, where he met another police line. He turned east along Cornhill and then North up the pedestrianised Royal Exchange Passage. Approaching Threadneedle Street he met riot police and dog handlers who were moving members of the public back towards Cornhill. It was at that point that he was allegedly assaulted for the first time. He then wandered slowly along Royal Exchange Passage again where he was struck by PC Simon Harwood. Five minutes later, Thomlinson collapsed in Cornhill.
How you can say that Thomlinson was not going home when he followed the natural - and, reportedly, his normal route - as far as the police blockade around Bank is beyond me.
That he wandered around the streets surrounding Bank Station in an attempt to find a way through is natural, especially following his first encounter with the police. That he could have been disorientated might also be natural.
On several occasions, I bought the Evening Standard from Thomlinson outside Monument Station. I recall that there a smell of drink around him (but there is a bar a few steps further along Pudding Lane) and he often appeared surly and sometimes confused (for example, over the change from a note).
Streaky
Edited by streaky on Thursday 26th August 13:38
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