Tube shooting inquiry jurors told to ignore speculation

The jurors in the Jean Charles de Menezes inquest were warned today to ignore "inaccurate" speculation and decide for themselves how he met his death at the hands of police.

Mr de Menezes was shot at Stockwell Tube station in London after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.

Coroner Michael Wright said the six women and five men must reach their conclusions of what happened on July 22, 2005 alone.

Opening the 12-week inquest into the 27-year-old's death, Mr Wright cautioned jurors to ignore often "very inaccurate" media speculation.

He said: "It is for you, the jury, to determine the facts of this fatality and that task will be yours and yours alone.

"No-one else can tell you what to decide although, in due course, I will do what I can to assist you by summarising the evidence."

He added: "In other words, it will be for you to determine by what means and what circumstances Mr de Menezes came by his death."

Mr Wright briefly outlined how Mr de Menezes was shot.

He said: "It must be stated at the outset of this inquest with the greatest possible emphasis that in truth Mr de Menezes was in no way associated with bombs, explosions or any form of terrorism."

Mr Wright said: "The person of whose death we are here to inquire is Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian citizen who was aged 27 when he died.

"He met his death at about 10.06am on the morning of July 22, 2005, in an Underground train which was at that time stationary at platform two at Stockwell Underground station.

"He died as he was shot by two specialist firearms officers of the Metropolitan Police.

"According to them, they shot him because they believed that he was a suicide bomber capable of detonating and intending to detonate an improvised explosive device on the Underground system."

The coroner told the jurors they must not research the case for themselves on the internet, discuss it with friends or read any articles about the inquest hearings.

He said: "You must put out of your mind anything you may have read or seen or picked up from the publicity that these matters have received.

"And you must concentrate exclusively on the evidence you will hear in the course of this inquest."

He listed a series of things they should not do, including carrying out private research, seeking out old articles or comment pieces, and visiting any of the places relevant to the case on their own.

Wright also urged the jury members not to discuss the case with their families.

He said: "They will all be agog to know what you have heard. Don't tell them, don't let them talk to you about it."

The coroner stressed that the inquest was an investigation, not a criminal trial.

He said there were rules forbidding coroner's juries from framing their verdicts in any way appearing to "determine any question of criminal liability on the part of a named person, or any question of civil liability at all".

He said the inquest was expected to last no more than 12 weeks and introduced the lawyers representing the various interested parties in the case.

The coroner outlined the official inquiries conducted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into the shooting.

He said the Metropolitan Police was found guilty of breaching health and safety regulations at the conclusion of a one-month trial at the Old Bailey last year.

Wright said preparations for the inquest could not begin until all of these matters had finished.

He said: "We have not done too badly to get the matter before you in September of the following year."

The jury were told that the inquest was a whole new inquiry. Wright told them: "This is a fresh approach. No-one can tell you what to decide."

The 11 jurors were handed a bundle of documents including plans and photographs from the various locations involved in the shooting.

Wright also outlined the structure of Metropolitan Police units involved in the operation, including the SO12 surveillance unit and CO19 firearms teams.

Wright said 48 of the officers would give evidence from behind a cloak of anonymity, but added that jurors would be able to see them.

He said the officers' names would not be made public because many of them still worked in sensitive roles and they also feared reprisals from criminals if identified.

He said: "The officers themselves are genuinely fearful that they or their family might become subject to unwanted attention or reprisals if their identities became known to criminal or terrorist groups against which they are working."

Wright took the jurors back to the events of July 2005, when terrorists twice targeted London's public transport network.

On July 7 suicide bombers set off four explosive devices - three on Tube trains and one on a bus - killing 52 innocent people and seriously injuring many more.

The coroner said: "The police intelligence assessment of the level of threat posed to the UK by international terrorism was raised to the very highest level - it is usually called critical.

"That is to say, the assessment was that a further attack was to be expected within a matter of days. That turned out to be right."

Two weeks later, on July 21, would-be suicide bombers targeted three London Underground trains and a bus - but their devices failed to detonate.

As they hunted the attackers, detectives established that their bombs were similar to each other and to those used in the July 7 atrocities, the court heard.

Wright suggested the Metropolitan Police were under great pressure at the time to find those responsible and protect the public.

He told the jurors: "You may feel able to conclude that the pressure on the police officers charged with the responsibility for investigating and tracking the persons responsible for this series of attempted bombings was substantially increased by the clear indication and fear that what had occurred might be the first and second of a series of similar attacks."

Police found a gym membership card in the rucksack containing the bomb left at Shepherd's Bush Tube station on July 21, the inquest heard.

It belonged to Hussain Osman, who had told the gym he lived at 21 Scotia Road in Tulse Hill, south London.

Another of the suspected failed bombers, Yassin Omar, was also linked to the property.

At about 4.55am on the morning of July 22, Commander John McDowall, from Scotland Yard's anti-terrorism command, ordered that a surveillance operation should be mounted at the address.

The strategy was to be that anyone leaving the building should be followed until it was safe to stop and challenge them.

Wright said: "The overall aim was to build up an intelligence picture to try to establish whether the two alleged terrorists were in the flat, and if they came out to arrest them safely."