Police complaints investigators recommended that the riot officer filmed pushing Ian Tomlinson to the ground before he died at the G20 protest last year should be charged with manslaughter, according to the dead man's family.
This revelation has added to controversy over the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) not to bring any charges against the police officer in question, PC Simon Harwood.
The recommendation was included in a report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) for prosecutors last August.
Yesterday, the CPS rejected that opinion and ruled out any criminal charges, including lesser offence of assault or misconduct in a public office.
Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, acknowledged there was evidence that Harwood assaulted Tomlinson minutes before he died, but he said conviction was unrealistic because of "sharp disagreements" between pathologists.
Tomlinson's widow, Julie, said: "The decision not to charge him came as a particular shock because the IPCC told me they had recommended charges of manslaughter when they sent the file up."
The Tomlinson family has accused the authorities of a 16-month "cover-up" of the death of the 47 year old newspaper seller on 1 April last year, when mobile phone video footage showed him being struck by an officer and shoved to the ground, despite behaving peacefully.
It has been reported today that, contrary to the CPS decision, the IPCC report concluded that there was sufficient evidence to charge the officer with manslaughter.
