The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #145999   Message #3378993
Posted By: YorkshireYankee
20-Jul-12 - 12:19 AM
Thread Name: The Ballad of Ian Tomlinson
Subject: The Ballad of Ian Tomlinson
Based on Bob Dylan's "Who Killed Davey Moore?"
(hear him sing it):

Who Killed the paperman?
Dig the facts out if you can

Can't say, says the pathologist
But I'm sure there's nothing I have missed
It's not surprising that he fell
He was just a drunk, he wasn't well
It's too bad he died that night
But he shouldn't have been there on that site
It must have been a heart attack
There's no excuse for any flak
We just can't say what made him fall
But you can't blame the cops at all

Can't say, says the mighty Met
We tried to save him, don't forget
We sent two men to help him out
While the crowd threw "missiles" all about
Our medics gave him CPR
Sorry we can't tell you more
The witnesses say that's not true
but trust us, they don't have a clue
We just can't say what made him fall
But you can't blame the cops at all

Can't say, says the IPCC
But don't upset the family
With speculation otherwise
Of course the Met would never lie
You must not trust the video
That shows him knocked down by a blow
From a cop who "lost" his shoulder ID
So don't give us the 3rd degree
We just can't say what made him fall
But you can't blame the cops at all

Can't say, says the Coroner
Though Freddie Patel's been wrong before
And screwed up several other cases
When he didn't notice cuts & bruises
Though I didn't let the IPCC attend
The 1st post mortem and I didn't send
A message to let the family know
Although it's their legal right to go
We just can't say what made him fall
But you can't blame the cops at all

Can't say, said the court decison
Yes it is a sad omission
Not to charge the cop who hit him
(After the police dog bit him)
And even though this officer's
Been charged with violence before
It's too bad, but we don't know how
It took so long; we can't charge him now
We just can't say what made him fall
But you can't blame the cops at all

Who Killed the paperman?
Dig the facts out if you can...

==============

For more info about the case (the officer in question was found "not guilty" by a jury yesterday (19 July 2012)):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ian_Tomlinson

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/09/g20-police-assault-ian-tomlinson-g20

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2175957/G20-death-trial-PC-Simon-Harwood-guilty-manslaughter-Ian-Tomlinson.html?ICO=most_read_module
(shortest summary; also most recent article, but it is the Daily Mail...)

For more info on Davey Moore: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davey_Moore_%28boxer,_born_1933%29

In the interests of fairness, I should admit that I wrote this song before PC Harwood was charged with manslaughter, so I should really do some re-writing...