 Harwood was involved in several confrontations on the day of Tomlinson's death. He had been on duty since 5 am, assigned as a driver, and had spent most of the day in his vehicle. While parked on Cornhill in the evening, he saw a man write "all cops are bastards" on the side of another police van, and left his vehicle to arrest him. The suspect's head struck a van door, triggering a response from the crowd that made Harwood believe it was unsafe to return to his vehicle. He told the inquest that he had been hit on the head, had fallen over, lost his baton, had been attacked by the crowd and feared for his life, but later acknowledged this had not happened.
