G20 Riot Cop Facing Court For Assault

A riot cop, caught on camera slapping a female protester then striking her leg with a police baton during the City of London G20 disturbances earlier this year, will face court in seven weeks time accused of assault.

Police Sergeant Delroy (Tony) Smellie, (pictured),a member of the Metropolitan Police’s elite Territorial Support Group has been suspended pending an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

He has been summonsed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 16 accused of assaulting Brighton protestor Nicola Fisher, 35, on April 2.

Contoversial footage of the officer’s confrontation with Ms. Fisher has been broadcast on television and the internet after demonstrators captured the incident on mobile phones.

A second woman also lodged a formal complaint against PS Smellie, but the Crown Prosecution Service announced there was insufficient evidence to proceed on those allegations.

In a statement, a CPS spokesman said: "The Crown Prosecution Service has decided that there is sufficient evidence to charge Police Sergeant Delroy (Tony) Smellie with the offence of assault by beating of Nicola Fisher on 2 April 2009 at a demonstration in the City of London."

The incident happened on the second day of the G20 protests as Ms. Fisher joined a large crowd attending a vigil for newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson who died the previous evening after being struck by a T.S.G officer.