Police riot notebooks reveal police brutality against G20 protesters

Police officers' notebooks lodged at the high court tell how they punched people in the face and beat others with riot shields during the G20 demonstrations in April. The notebooks, which have been lodged as evidence in an action brought by three protesters, also disclose how Metropolitan police were given no restrictions on the use of force when they were ordered to move protesters attending the Climate Change camp in the City of London on 1 April. The accounts were written up the day after the demonstrations. In one notebook, a police constable recounts how when he saw a protester pushing against officers' shields: "I punched him in the jaw and he moved backwards." Another officer describes how he hit people with "shield strikes both flat and angled. I also delivered open palm strikes to a number of individuals and fist strikes as well." A third constable logged: "To get the protesters who would not move, I needed to hit the flat part of my shield to get them to move back. I also used open-handed palm strikes. Once the protesters were moved back to the required distance, we remained in a closed cordon until relieved."