Pathologist’s verdict on Ian Tomlinson is called into question

The pathologist who conducted the first post-mortem examination on Ian Tomlinson was today at the centre of a storm over the CPS's decision not to bring charges against the police officer who struck the newspaper vendor.

Dr Freddy Patel concluded that Mr Tomlinson, 47, died of a heart attack. Two subsequent examinations found that he died as a result of internal bleeding caused by being hit by a blunt instrument.

Today, Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the "sharp disagreement" between medical experts about the cause of death made it impossible to bring a prosecution for manslaughter or assault causing actual bodily harm.

Dr Patel is facing 26 disciplinary charges at the General Medical Council alleging that he conducted four autopsies incompetently.

The doctor, whose full name is Mohmed Saeed Sulema Patel, could be struck off.

It is claimed that he gave "questionable" verdicts on the causes of death in these four cases — which do not include the death of Mr Tomlinson — between September 2002 and August 2005.

One of the cases involves a post-mortem examination on a five-year-old girl. It is alleged that Dr Patel failed to conduct a full autopsy on the child — who had been abused by her stepmother — because a detective believed her death was "likely" to be an accident.

The GMC heard that the doctor failed to spot signs of violence when he examined the body of Annastacia Williams.