Three constables reported seeing newspaper seller struck with baton and pushed to ground days before video emerged

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Senior police were told 48 hours after Ian Tomlinson's death that officers had witnessed a colleague push him to the ground at the G20 protests, but the information was withheld from the police watchdog.

The Guardian can reveal that three constables reported seeing Tomlinson being struck with a baton and pushed to the ground four days before video footage of the incident emerged.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is now investigating why information provided by Metropolitan Police constables Andrew Moore, Kerry Smith and Nicholas Jackson was not passed on to its investigators.

The focus of the IPCC investigation is not likely to be the Met but City of London police, the tiny force that has jurisdiction over the Square Mile and was initially responsible for investigating Tomlinson's death on 1 April 2009.

Two days later, on 3 April, the Met told City of London police that three constables from Hammersmith and Fulham station had recognised the newspaper seller from pictures in the media. They said they were "adamant" they had seen a police officer strike him with baton and push him to the ground before his death.

City of London officers investigating the death do not appear to have informed the IPCC, the coroner, the pathologist, Tomlinson's family or the media.

The first public admission that police witnesses may have seen their colleague attack Tomlinson at the G20 protests was on 8 April, the day after the release of video footage showing the incident in full.

An inquest jury concluded last week that Tomlinson was "unlawfully killed" by Met police officer Simon Harwood at the protests. PCs Moore, Smith and Jackson turned out to be crucial witnesses – two of them gave evidence at the inquest.

All three constables, level 2 trained public order officers, can be seen clearly in the footage and were standing just yards away from Tomlinson when he was attacked from behind by Harwood.

It was Jackson who first made the connection when he saw photographs of Tomlinson being treated by medics in a newspaper. On 3 April he told his inspector that he recognised him as the same man who had been pushed to the ground by a police officer, and within hours senior officers had also contacted Moore and Smith, who had been standing beside him at Royal Exchange Buildings.

They too confirmed they had seen the incident and one officer, Smith, said she had "expected blood" when she saw Tomlinson pushed.

The three Met constables did not recognise Harwood – a territorial support group officer based at another station – and assumed he was a City of London police officer.

A Hammersmith and Fulham inspector telephoned the Met's "point of contact" for the Tomlinson investigation at 4.15pm on 3 April and told him his officers were convinced Tomlinson had been pushed by an officer before his death.

The Met contact said he instantly realised the significance of the new information and relayed the details to City of London police before the postmortem examination was conducted by pathologist Dr Freddy Patel. However, Dr Patel was not told about the new police witnesses.

City of London police, which had four officers at the autopsy, said the information was not passed to it by the Met until the autopsy was at an "advanced stage".

A senior IPCC official investigating the matter said there was an "obvious dispute" between the two forces about timing, although City of London police does not deny it received the information on 3 April.

The following day, City of London police released a press statement announcing the newspaper seller had died of a "sudden" heart attack, but making no reference to the new information received from the three police witnesses.

City of London investigators also authorised an IPCC statement which said there was "no evidence" the actions of police contributed in any way to his death.

The April 4 statement was shelved at the last minute, after the watchdog was independently contacted by witnesses who suggested there may have been contact.

The IPCC began investigating why its officials were not informed about the evidence supplied by Moore, Smith and Jackson last week after the Guardian gave the watchdog a summary of its investigation prior to publication.

In a separate development, the IPCC is on Monday expected to release three reports relating to Tomlinson's death.

They include one report into Tomlinson's death, another into whether a Met police officer misled two pathologists who examined the body and a third into complaints that police misled the media.

None of the reports are expected to take into account the fact the Met and City of London police knew two days after his death that police witnesses had seen Tomlinson pushed by an officer.

A Met spokesman confirmed three of its officers were identified as witnesses on 3 April, but said the force "took prompt and proper action to inform the investigating force, in this case City of London".

City of London police said the force would co-operate with any IPCC investigation.

The latest disclosures are likely to fuel concerns already raised by Tomlinson's family that information was withheld in what they have called a "cover-up". Police told the family Tomlinson died of a heart attack before a postmortem had even taken place.

Once the autopsy had taken place, they asked if there were marks on the body, but were not told by City of London police about an elongated bruise and puncture marks on the newspaper vendor's leg.

A senior City of London police officer recorded in his log that he did not pass information about marks on Tomlinson's body to avoid "unnecessary alarm or distress".

Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, last week played down allegations of a cover-up.

"There will of course be cases where people do close ranks," he said. "The culture in some parts of policing is, without doubt, a certain internal one, and people feel deep loyal to their colleagues."

But he added: "We can say with some absolute justification that we have one of the most transparent police services in the world."