The fashion for 70's retro may have faded somewhat but the Met seemed determined to do their bit to keep that decade alive. Some officers must get misty-eyed when they reminisce about the good ol' Sus laws, SPG, fit-ups and gratuitous brutality.
The death of newspaper seller, Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests showed the 'modern' Met at their worst: defensive, obstructive, mendacious. The camera technology which they have used so successfully to intimidate legitimate protesters was used against them and their slanted version of events of this pointless death exposed. Yesterday's report by pressure group INQUEST revealed an even more staggering example of the Met's duplicity.
It is alleged (and not yet denied) a senior officer, directly involved in the case, suggested to the family that the copper who shoved Ian Tomlinson to the deck may not have been a police officer at all - perhaps he was but a member of the public who had found a uniform and carried out the fatal assault. It's not hard to picture the faces of incredulity following this proposterous assertion. Small wonder the report says, rather modestly, the police have, "failed to instil confidence in the family."
The NZ teacher and activist, Blair Peach was beaten to death by police in April 1979 following a clash between the National Front and the Anti-Nazi League. Astonishingly, the Met tried the same excuse at that time and suggested a group could have simply procured the correct uniforms and then carried out a vicious attack.
This is the mode of legal defence more commonly associated with lunatic regimes such as Ceaucescu, Mugabe or Pinochet. The people of London deserve better from their police force but there seems to be an ever-worsening standard of leadership among the most senior officers and so giving cover to the most disreputable elements at junior levels.
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