Watchdog damns G20 police thugs

The report was conducted by Denis O'Connor, the head of the Inspectorate of Constabulary.

It was commissioned by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson following the death of newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson and numerous further allegations of police brutality during the April protests.

The report found major failings in a number of aspects of protest policing, including an absence of clear standards on the use of force, inadequate training in the law and human rights, out of date training and the inappropriate use of public order powers.

Mr O'Connor also said that the use of Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) to take photographs and the use of "spotter cards" raised fundamental privacy issues and recommended that the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) should be made more transparent.

A spokesman for Climate Camp, which co-organised the G20 protests, welcomed the report but warned police that "we're watching you."

He said: "The report shows that there is some movement within the police force for change, but we'll be watching how things happen down on the ground at direct actions in the lead up to the Copenhagen climate talks.

"Hundreds of British climate activists are going to be making their way to Copenhagen over the next few weeks. Let's hope the police don't use this as an excuse for intimidation and monitoring."

The spokesman added that, "when it came to the G20, the police behaved like violent thugs - and the granting of a judicial review to put the senior police officers involved under scrutiny will surely bring more of their mistakes to light.

"Let's just hope they learn their lessons in time. We're watching you."

ACPO uniformed operations spokesman Meredydd Hughes welcomed the report, saying it would "shape the future of national public order policing.

"It will drive changes in our preparation for protest and our relationships with those involved," he said.

ACPO also pledged to make its new guidelines public.

Climate change protesters also won a judicial review yesterday of police tactics during the G20 demonstration.

Several participants claimed they were beaten and unlawfully restrained during a protest in London on April 1.

Notebooks disclosed to their solicitors included evidence of officers hitting protesters with their shields and punching them in the face.

Bindmans solicitor John Halford, who represents three protesters, said the court decision highlighted a fundamental problem, "the entrenchment of a culture where the police believe they can deploy whatever tactics or force they consider necessary to suppress peaceful protest as long as the mantra of 'proportionality' is frequently repeated.

"However, that is not the law in any properly functioning democracy," he said.