Jenny Booth
We've made some changes
to The Sunday Times
Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian electrician, was shot dead because detectives mistook him for the failed July 21 suicide bomber Hussain Osman, who had tried to blow up a London tube train the previous day. The jury that today convicted the police force of mishandling the operation which ended in de Menezes's death heard a number of damaging new facts during the trial:
1) The control room which was running the surveillance operation on Osman was crowded and noisy.
2) There was confusion in the minds of the control room officers, the surveillance team and the firearms officers about what the strategy was, should anyone emerge from the building they were watching.
3) The spotter who was supposed to verify Osman's identity had gone to the toilet and was absent from his post when de Menezes left the block of flats in Scotia Road where both he and Osman lived.
4) The surveillance team failed to stop or question people leaving the block of flats, which might have uncovered the mistake.
5) It took four hours to assemble an SO19 firearms team to assist the surveillance operation, by which time de Menezes had long since left the building
6) The police changed their minds several times whether de Menezes was Osman, codenamed Nettletip.
7) The surveillance team asked repeatedly whether they should arrest de Menezes, as he was allowed to make two bus journeys, but were told to hold back and wait for the firearms team to handle the arrest.
8) The surveillance team reported that de Menezes appeared nervous and agitated, getting on and off the bus, sending text messages and making mobile phone calls. Officer interpreted this as someone potentially intent on causing an explosion.
9) The firearms team was given an "inaccurate and unbalanced" briefing, telling them they were dealing with a suicide bomber.
10) By the time the firearms team had finally caught up with the surveillance team, it was too late to stop de Menezes before he entered Stockwell Tube station in South London.
11) Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, the gold commander in the control room, never gave an order to shoot. The Operation Kratos "shoot-to-kill" procedures were never invoked, and no Kratos codeword was issued.
12) The decision to shoot was taken by SO19 firearms officers on the Tube platform, after de Menezes allegedly reacted in an "aggressive and threatening manner" on being challenged.
13) Passengers were still fleeing the Tube platform when the “extremely violent, extremely noisy and obviously distressing” killing was carried out.
14) De Menezes was shot seven times in the head and neck at close range with ultra-lethal hollowpoint ammunition, that had been issued to firearms officers for the first time only that morning.
15) Met Police firearms officers had been trained by Israeli security experts on how to deal with suicide bombers.
16) A post-mortem examination found substances in de Menezes's urine that suggested he had recently taken cocaine; and there was a fake stamp in his passport.
17) The police later digitally doctored a photo intended to show the facial resemblance between de Menezes and Osman, to make them look more similar.
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Jean Charles De Menezes was a casualty of war
Would the people who complain about the police like to take on the job of trying to prevent further episodes of murder and mahem caused by bombs as was seen in London not so long ago
Police put their life on the line every day.
Roslyn Trigg, Bargara, Australia
The most shcocking thing is that after shooting an innocent person, police deliberately doctored the photos to cover their own crime. It makes me feel unsafe to take the public transport.
Joe Risen, London, UK
This is a sorry tale of utter incompetence and chaos. How anyone can say that Commander Cressida Dick and the Police Commissioner are doing a good job is beyond me.
Neil, Gloucestershire, England
Russel, that's the point he didn't try to escape. He wasn't aware of the police until he was on the Tube. Your argument "what if he had have been a bomber?" is irrelevant. Are you saying that any user of London transport is fair game just in case they're a bomber?
Joe, Southsea,
If this had been a private commercial company that carelessly (recklessly?) caused the death of a member of the public, you can bet at least one individual would have been in the dock to face the full wrath of the Health & Safety Executive.
Incompetence and double standards all round.
MichaelT, Leeds,
Should one be confronted by the police and one has nothing to hide why would you attempt to escape? A logical person would comply with police instructions, ie., allow the police to identify you without making any foolish moves. I believe the London Police to be outstanding. This was an unfortunat.e incident. What if the person had been bomber? The police would then have been criticized for not stopping him. The police are always in a no win situation with the public
Russell, Huelva, Spain
I would like to know just who were these hysterical idiots, let loose in London, waving their guns around like a cowboy movie, and apparently out of control? And who let them loose?
We are told they were trained by the Israelis, so perhaps it`s not that surprising they were prepared to gun down anyone they were frightened of, including the police surveillance officers and the train driver. But who permitted all this to happen?
Seems to me at least Mr Ian Blair should go; also Cressida Dick should go; and we should return the job of policing to professional, calm, policemen; and get rid of "sociology" graduates, "fast-tracked" into jobs they are incompetent to do.
Andrew Sanders
Andrew Sanders, Saffron Walden, Essex