Decision expected today on tube shooting police
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has spent six months analysing the case.
Its decision will be announced publicly at midday.
Most of the speculation has suggested that no one will be charged, although in recent weeks there has been a growing feeling that the Metropolitan Police could be prosecuted under health and safety laws.
Either outcome will anger the de Menezes family, who fear a “whitewash”.
Mr de Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian electrician, was shot seven times in the head by anti-terror officers at Stockwell Tube station in south London on July 22 last after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.
The final decision on criminal charges was taken last week by a senior CPS reviewing lawyer from its Special Crime Directorate and then approved by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald.
The announcement comes just six days before the first anniversary of Mr de Menezes’s death and is likely to generate headlines around the world, particularly in his home country Brazil — where the Stockwell saga is a massive story.
It is considered unlikely that any of the officers will face murder or manslaughter charges — despite a report last week alleging that the CPS had been asked to consider a manslaughter case against three officers.
Among them was said to be Commander Cressida Dick, the designated senior officer who was responsible for the operation on the morning of the shooting.
She was among a number of officers — said to be at least 10 — who were served with so-called “regulation nine” notices and interviewed under caution by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
They include firearms officers and members of the surveillance team.
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