UK to bring manslaughter charge in protest death

LONDON – A British prosecutor says he will bring a manslaughter charge against a police officer following the death of a newspaper vendor during the G-20 demonstrations in London in 2009.

Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, says he will charge police constable Simon Harwood in the death of Ian Tomlinson. Starmer says the decision came after an inquest into his death.

Tomlinson was shoved to the ground as he tried to find his way out of the cordon thrown up to contain protests in central London. He collapsed and died moments afterward. His case became a cause celebre for those who alleged that police brutalized demonstrators.

A report following the demonstration said police were too focused on tackling violence rather than allowing peaceful protest.