Ian Tomlinson's Family Welcome Police Apology

Ian Tomlinson's family have said Scotland's Yard public apology for his death is "as close as we are going to get to justice".

Police apologised for the death at the G20 protests in 2009 as they confirmed an out-of-court settlement has been reached with Mr Tomlinson's relatives.

The 47-year-old was hit with a baton and shoved by Pc Simon Harwood during the demonstrations in the City of London and later collapsed and died.

Mr Harwood was found not guilty of manslaughter last year but was later thrown out of the police for gross misconduct after disciplinary proceedings.

In its statement, Scotland Yard paid tribute to Mr Tomlinson's widow Julia and family for enduring the pain of his death "with dignity".

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Maxine de Brunner said: "I take full responsibility for the actions of Simon Harwood on 1 April 2009.

"His actions fell far below the standard we expect from our officers. I accept the finding of the inquest that Mr Tomlinson was unlawfully killed.

"As the jury found, 'at the time of the strike and push, Mr Tomlinson was walking away from the police line. He was complying with police instructions to leave Royal Exchange Buildings. He posed no threat'.

"Today, I apologise unreservedly for Simon Harwood's use of excessive and unlawful force, which caused Mr Tomlinson's death, and for the suffering and distress caused to his family as a result."

Mrs Tomlinson described the last four years as "a really hard uphill battle" and said the family would never understand the trial verdict.

But welcoming the apology, she said: "It will always be painful for us that Ian died so violently, but at least he is at rest now, and the force has publicly acknowledged the truth.

"We hope that lessons have been learned and that other families will be spared the tragedy and ordeal that we have had to face.

"We loved Ian and will always keep his memory alive by talking about him and sharing our memories with each other as we finally start looking to the future again."

Immediately after Mr Tomlinson's death, officers claimed they had come under a hail of bottles as they tried to help him.

A detective inspector also incorrectly briefed a pathologist that he had fallen in front of a police van.

But the fatal encounter was caught on film by a New York hedge fund manager, who passed the footage to the Guardian newspaper.

It showed the newspaper seller walking away from a group of police officers and falling to the ground after he was hit and shoved by Mr Harwood.

The first post-mortem found he had died from a heart attack but later it was determined he had suffered internal injuries.

His widow described the video as "shocking" and said the family should never have had to go to court to establish that he was unlawfully killed.

Ms De Brunner apologised for the police's "ill-considered comments" immediately after Mr Tomlinson died and for how the family found out the truth through the press.

She also conceded mistakes were made in allowing Mr Harwood to move between the Met and Surrey Police despite a controversial disciplinary record.

The officer was due to face internal disciplinary proceedings in 2001 while working for Scotland Yard after he was accused of unlawful arrest, abuse of authority and discreditable conduct.

They were discontinued when he retired on medical grounds but he rejoined the force as a civilian worker and then became a police officer for Surrey.

He was later allowed to rejoin the Met in 2004 as part of its Territorial Support Group, specialising in public order.

"It is clear that insufficient recording and checks meant that detailed information regarding the officer's misconduct history was not shared at key points. We got it wrong," Ms De Brunner said.