Tube shooting family inquiry call

BBC
Aug. 17, 2005

The family of a man mistakenly killed by police hunting London bomb suspects are calling for a public inquiry.

They say those responsible should be jailed for life, and their lawyer has called for the Met chief to resign.

It comes after leaked documents contradicted previous accounts of the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July.

Investigation papers, leaked to ITV, suggest the Brazilian was restrained before being shot eight times.

The papers appear to be from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) inquiry into the shooting.

The body would not comment on the leak, but said it would be meeting the family's solicitor on Thursday to update her.

'Sitting down'

The documents contradict initial eyewitness reports that suggested Mr de Menezes hurdled a barrier at Stockwell tube station and was wearing a padded jacket that could have concealed a bomb.

They suggest the Brazilian was wearing a denim jacket and walked into the station, picked up a free newspaper on the way and walked through ticket barriers.

It is suggested he only started to run when he saw a train arriving and was sitting down when he was shot.

Scotland Yard said on the day of the shooting - 24 hours after the 21 July failed attacks - that "his clothing and his behaviour at the station added to their suspicions".

'Searching'

On Wednesday evening ITV News revealed further details from the documents, quoting a surveillance officer codenamed Hotel 3, who called "he's here" and pointed out Mr de Menezes to armed officers moments before they shot him.

It reported that Hotel 3 said he had followed Mr de Menezes onto the Tube and had stopped its doors from closing because he saw armed police coming down the platform.

"They appeared to be looking into the carriage as if searching for someone," Hotel 3 said.

It was also revealed that there had been at least two other surveillance officers in the carriage and that the officer who first saw Mr de Menezes leave his flat was actually a soldier on detachment to the Met.

Statutory duty

Mr Menezes' family called for the suspension of the police "shoot-to-kill" policy.

Their lawyer called for Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair to resign.

The legal team also accused police of breaching their statutory duty by not immediately inviting the IPPC to start its inquiry.

Scotland Yard said Sir Ian Blair - in the belief that Mr Menezes was linked to terrorism - had written to the Home Office permanent secretary on the morning of Mr Menezes death to make sure the terrorist investigation took precedence over any IPCC investigation.

But later the same day the Metropolitan Police agreed to hand over the shooting investigation to the IPCC, with their officers taking over on the following Monday.

'Full truth'

Mr de Menezes' cousin Allessandro Pereira said: "Jean was an innocent man who was shot in cold blood. We now know that he wasn't wearing a bulky jacket, that he wasn't acting suspiciously or that he was told to stop by the police.

"He was being restrained when he was shot and killed.

"My family deserve the full truth about his murder. The truth cannot be hidden any longer. It has to be made public."

In a statement, the family lawyers demanded answers to 12 key questions, including how police made themselves known to the victim, and why Mr Menezes relatives in London were placed in a hotel room without access to telephones.

They also asked why the pathologist at the post mortem on 27 July was told: "[Mr Menezes] was followed into Stockwell Tube Station where he vaulted over the ticket barrier. He ran downstairs and onto a Tube train where it appears that he stumbled. The officers then immobilised him and a number of shots were fired."

Asad Rehman, spokesman for the Justice4Jean Family Campaign said "The home secretary must now use his powers to order a full judicial inquiry into the killing."

Scotland Yard and the Home Office have so far said it would be inappropriate to comment.