Something happened on the Olympic torch relay as it went through Suffolk yesterday. Here’s how the Metropolitan police described it to the BBC:
A male on a pedal cycle attempted to enter the security bubble around the torchbearer. The Met’s torch security team prevented him from gaining access to the torchbearer and the male fell off his bike. He immediately got back on his bike and left.
Got that? Now watch the video of the event:
The two simply do not match up. Quite why the Met thought it was acceptable to give a statement when they weren’t yet sure of what had happened is unclear. As concerning is the fact that the BBC, despite possessing footage of the event, didn’t think it worth while to question the statement in any way.
The attitude of the police seems to have been to issue a statement exonerating officers entirely, then start looking into what actually happened. That may have worked ten years ago, but when those statements are put up alongside instantly available video, it does nothing but erode trust in the police force.
If you know the cyclist in the video, please encourage him to get in touch at alex.hern@newstatesman.co.uk
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