Police account of shooting was untrue

John-Paul Ford Rojas

Jean Charles de Menezes was gunned down at Stockwell Tube station on July 22, in the mistaken belief that he was linked to the failed bomb attempts of the day before.

It has now emerged that Mr de Menezes, as claimed by police after the shooting:

Did not run away.

Did not jump the ticket barrier.

Was not wearing a heavily padded ‘bombers’ coat.

Had not been positively identified.

Had been completely overpowered by police before he was shot eight times.

Yet two days after the shooting, Mr Blair had claimed his officers had tried to get Mr de Menezes under control before shooting him.

“The important thing here is there is nothing gratuitous going on, there is nothing cavalier here, there is no conspiracy to shoot people,” Mr Blair had said.

Initial police accounts suggested that Mr de Menezes had fled from armed officers by vaulting over barriers before stumbling onto an Underground train, where the officers opened fire.

But according to documents obtained by ITV News, the Brazilian entered the station at a normal walking pace and even picked up a free copy of the Metro newspaper.

The leaked report also indicated that he was wearing a light denim jacket and not the heavily padded coat as initially claimed.

One police officer is quoted as saying he was able to grab Mr de Menezes and pin his arms to his side before the shooting started.

Another told how earlier during the surveillance operation that led to the shooting he had been unable to record video footage of Mr de Menezes because he had been “relieving himself”.

The report also said a post mortem examination showed Mr de Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder, but three other bullets missed.

Harriet Wistrich, lawyer for the de Menezes family, said they were distressed at the new revelations.

She added: “I think it is absolutely shocking and terrifying. There’s obviously some level of incompetence here or some serious breakdown in communications with the various officers involved in surveillance.”

The new account was said to have been obtained from the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation into the killing of the 27-year-old electrician.

The IPCC refused to confirm or deny the truth of the information, while Scotland Yard and the Home Office said it would be inappropriate to comment. Home Secretary Charles Clarke pledged that when the IPCC report was published it would be “carefully considered and acted upon”.

Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said the emerging details were “more and more troubling” and highlighted the need for a “truly independent” investigation.

On July 22, police had been monitoring a flat in Scotia Road, Tulse Hill, south London, which they believed was linked to the previous day’s bomb attempts.

Mr de Menezes left the property before taking a bus to Stockwell tube station.

During the course of his journey, officers came to the conclusion that he matched the description of one of two terror suspects, including Hussain Osman, the alleged Shepherd’s Bush attempted bomber, according to the leaked documents.