Police were today told to make immediate changes to the way they control public protests after a woman claimed that being kicked and pushed by officers may have caused her to miscarry.
Senior officers must review public order training, warn protesters of likely police action and allow vulnerable people to leave cordons, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.
The changes will dilute the tactic of “kettling” — the technique of containing groups in a very restricted space which has been successfully used to prevent protesters dispersing and causing trouble in another location.
The demand for change was made as the watchdog released its findings from an inquiry launched after the 23-year-old woman claimed she was assaulted during the G20 demonstrations.
The woman, who was at the Climate Camp in Bishopsgate, a spontaneous demonstration a short distance from the Bank of England, on April 1, said she was left with bruising on her arms and legs and heavy bleeding after being forced to leave the Climate Camp in Bishopsgate.
Officials found that officers used their shields to try and move the crowd backwards, a tactic which has not been approved nationally by senior officers.
IPCC officials said the woman was forcibly pushed back by an officer using a “short shield”, a method developed by the Metropolitan Police.
They also found the woman was not allowed to leave the area of Bishopsgate for up to five hours despite her heavy bleeding.
The woman, who has not been named, said today that she had feared for her life during the incident.
Speaking BBC Radio 4’s The World At One, she said: “I was being struck very violently with shields and pushed very violently... I was being shouted at and screamed at continuously to get back.”
But she said there was nowhere for her to move to, adding: “I remember thinking, ‘Oh God, this is how people die in crowds, you get crushed’.
“At some point there was a real surge of aggression and at that point... there were about three different police officers who I was being attacked by to the head, the arms.
“I was being kicked repeatedly in the shins over and over again.”
The woman said she saw people with “their heads split” and “their noses broken” during the violence.
“One of the most traumatic visual moments for me was that a female police officer in front of me had blood spattered on the outside of her visor.
“I was so lost in fear and shock by this point that I said, ’Do you know you have blood on your visor?’
“That really upset her and I really got laid into and I got knocked on to the floor and all the people trying to help me... were also being hit.
“Eventually I was righted and I asked to go.”
She told IPCC officials that officers in riot gear clashed with her group at about 6.30pm.
She said: “I feel the treatment I received by the police officers was unnecessary, disproportionate and inhumane. I feel violated.
“The police used excessive force against me causing me to suffer bruises, swellings and potentially a miscarriage. I will probably never know or be able to prove that I was pregnant but I feel very distressed that this may have happened.”
One of the woman’s friends told investigators she was “tossed around... in a scrum” as police advanced on them.
The IPCC said a group of officers from the Territorial Support Group and an officer from the borough of Richmond were present.
Deborah Glass, of the IPCC who was responsible for the inquiry, said there was evidence a peaceful atmosphere at the carnival changed suddenly in the evening as police moved in.
One witness told the IPCC: “I have been to many camps and I have never seen anything so calm turn into something so violent.”
Mrs Glass said the victim was trapped at the front of a large group of protesters as officers moved forwards. She said the woman was forcibly pushed with a shield and an officer’s forearm.
The “pushes” connected with her chest and neck.
Speaking about the refusal to allow her to leave when she began bleeding, Mrs Glass said: “It is difficult to see how this could possibly have been justified.”
Medical staff were unable to confirm if the woman had been pregnant.
Mrs Glass added: “While this young woman’s alleged injuries were more serious than most, her experience appears to have been typical of many peaceful protesters on April 1.
“She was caught up in what appears to have been a frightening experience over which she had little or no control.
“Like many others that day, she says she had no prior warning of the police intention to use force in containing the crowd, and no prior warning of a containment tactic that prevented her leaving.”
Six inquiries were launched after complaints of police brutality during two days of clashes during the meeting of world leaders in London.
The operation also sparked a series of high-profile inquiries into police tactics, including the practice of penning in protesters for long periods.
Earlier this week, a file into the death of Ian Tomlinson was passed from IPCC investigators to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
It must decide if a Metropolitan Police constable caught on camera hitting the newspaper seller and pushing him to the ground should be prosecuted.
The officer, a member of the force’s territorial support group, has been interviewed under caution on suspicion of manslaughter.
The precise events of the last minutes of Mr Tomlinson’s life remain unclear after two pathologists disagreed over what caused him to die.
His widow called on the CPS to let a jury decide what role, if any, the officer played in his death.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: “It is only right and proper that public complaints are investigated thoroughly, and where appropriate, independently.
“Though we note that the medical opinion was that there was a low probability of the complainant being pregnant, there is a real opportunity for lessons to be learnt here.
“A senior Metropolitan Police Service officer has offered to meet with the complainant to discuss the potential learning from this incident and apologise.”
Source