Attack in London Today

Tube shooting: 'no prosecutions'

By Sophie Goodchild, Chief Reporter
Published: 27 November 2005

Two police marksmen who killed an innocent Brazilian at a London Underground station will escape criminal charges, according to reports.

Senior Metropolitan Police and Whitehall officials are said to be convinced that prosecutors will accept the defence of the officers who shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes.

The 27-year-old electrician died after he was followed to Stockwell Tube station in the belief that he was a suicide bomber. This was the day after the abortive 21 July terror attacks on the Underground.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission this month took evidence from the two officers who killed Mr de Menezes.

They are thought to have said in their defence that they "honestly believed" he was a terrorist and that they used "reasonable force".

They are expected to base their case on a detailed account of radio communications between their firearms unit and more senior Met officers.

Met chief to face Menezes probe
An investigation is to be carried out into the conduct of Met Police chief Sir Ian Blair after the Tube shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission had asked Home Secretary Charles Clarke to approve their probe.

The victim's family says Sir Ian "misled" them and the public after Mr Menezes was shot dead by London police who mistook him for a suicide bomber.

Early reports suggested Mr Menezes had fled from anti-terror officers.

Scotland Yard was quoted as saying Mr Menezes' "clothing and demeanour" added to suspicions he was a suspected suicide bomber.

Complaint

The Menezes family lodged an official complaint alleging that officers made false public statements following the shooting at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July.

Home secretary approval is required for an investigation into the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

We have not made any assumptions and... will try to establish the truth in an impartial, proportionate and timely way
Nick Hardwick,
IPCC chairman
The Independent Police Complaints Commission probe will be led by senior investigator Mike Grant, and be separate from the IPCC's existing investigation into the circumstances of the shooting.

IPCC chairman Nick Hardwick said: "Neither we nor Jean Charles' family want this complaint to distract us from the main task of finding out how and why Jean Charles died.

"We still expect our investigation into the shooting to be completed by the end of December."

He added: "We have not made any assumptions and for the sake of Jean Charles' family, officers within the MPS and the public at large, will try to establish the truth in an impartial, proportionate and timely way."

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, told BBC News 24: "It's completely right that the media handling and the statements and the comments that were made about the shooting are dealt with just as robustly as the police operation itself."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4478188.stm

Published: 2005/11/28 13:14:19 GMT

London Police Deny Report Officers Cleared in Brazilian's Death

Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- London's Metropolitan Police denied a report in the Evening Standard today that two officers were cleared of wrongdoing in a police review into the shooting death of a Brazilian man in July.

The newspaper reported that a department inquiry found the officers followed police shoot-to-kill rules and that the death was a mistake. Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot dead on a London Underground train on July 22 after police mistook him for a suicide bomber.

``We do not recognize the story in today's Evening Standard, as we have not conducted an inquiry into the actions of officers on the 22nd July,'' the department said in an e- mailed statement.

De Menezes was killed the day after bombs were found on three London Underground trains and a bus, and 15 days after suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 others in the city. The De Menezes family called for Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair to resign because of the shooting. Blair said he wouldn't quit.

The government's Independent Police Complaints Commission is close to completing its investigation into the shooting, commission spokeswoman Rachael Collins said on Jan. 10. Chairman Nick Hardwick will review the report and may submit it to prosecutors, who would weigh whether officers should face criminal charges, she said.

The commission is conducting a second investigation into whether Blair or other officers made false public statements after the shooting.

Up to 15 police officers may face charges over Menezes shooting

By Jason Bennetto, Crime Correspondent
Published: 20 January 2006

About 15 police officers could be charged in connection with the shooting dead of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian mistaken for a suicide bomber. The disclosure came as the Crown Prosecution Service was handed a file of evidence on several of the Metropolitan Police officers involved.

The file, naming about 15 officers, is the result of an inquiry into the shooting at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July - the day after a series of failed bomb attacks on London's transport network. Mr Menezes, a 27-year-old electrician, was shot seven times in the head.

Crown prosecutors will consider whether there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against any of the officers.

New inquiry into 'police failings' that led to killing of Brazilian
By Sophie Goodchild, Chief Reporter
Published: 22 January 2006

Scotland Yard is facing a fresh inquiry into its controversial shoot-to-kill policy after the killing of the innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes last July.

The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), the independent watchdog for the force, prompted by the shooting, is to investigate communications failures between police chiefs and firearms officers.

The 27-year-old was shot deadat Stockwell Tube station, south London, in the wake of the London bombings, by police exercising a shoot-to-kill policy.

A report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) handed to prosecutors last week is understood to blame the killing on failings in the Met's command and control procedures.

The MPA review is expected to recommend radical changes in the type of orders given to police, even the words that commanders use when issuing instructions.

A copy of the MPA's report on police firearms procedures is likely to be handed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is considering the IPCC's findings. It is understood that the CPS has suggested that there are grounds for criminal charges to be brought against at least 10 officers involved in the shooting of Mr de Menezes.

A source at the MPA said there was concern that a communications failure led to the "execution-style" killing of the electrician, who was shot eight times. "From what we understand, there was not enough clarification of the orders used and that better communications are needed above and below ground on these type of operations," the source said.

The IPCC report has gone to only a limited number of people, among them Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, to prevent leaks, which could jeopardise a criminal trial.

It is understood that the IPCC investigation raises concerns about Operation Kratos, the strategy introduced to deal with suspected suicide bombers, which authorises commanders to order officers to act only on instructions, rather than making their own decisions. This means that firearms police are, in effect, notin charge of their own actions.

Reports have said that Commander Cressida Dick, who was in charge of operations on the day Mr de Menezes was killed, told IPCC investigators that she ordered firearms officers only to "stop" the Brazilian.

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, is facing a second IPCC inquiry, after a complaint by Mr de Menezes' family that he made misleading statements following the shooting.

Police sources said that Mr de Menezes may have been found with cocaine, a story that has been denounced by his family as a smear.

Alex Pereira, a cousin, said: "As far as we know he was only found with his wallet and phone. He always told me it was silly to take drugs. This is just another attempt to smear him."

The family, angry that it has not been allowed to see the IPCC report, has written to the Crown Prosecution Service and the Attorney General, demanding that the Stockwell investigation be completed before the end of next month.