Why was Jean Charles de Menezes suspected of being a terrorist?
De Menezes was killed on July 22 2005 as police hunted terrorists who had tried to bomb London the previous day. In the early hours of that day, police traced a gym card found in one of the bags containing the failed bombs to an address at Scotia Road, south London. They believed it was being used by a suspected terrorist called Hussain Osman.
A senior officer drew up a plan that anyone coming out of the address should be allowed to walk a short distance away so they were out of sight of anyone else in the flats, then stopped by armed police and their identity checked. But it took police hours to realise the address was a communal block of flats, let alone that Osman had not returned there.
Did De Menezes jump over the tube station barrier or do anything to arouse suspicion?
He walked out of the flat and took a bus to an underground station, which he found was closed. He got back on the bus and went to Stockwell station. Some police took this detouring to be a counter-surveillance technique that might be used by a trained terrorist.
Their suspicions increased because they saw De Menezes texting and talking on his mobile phone. In fact, the 27-year-old electrician had overslept and was late for work on the other side of London.
Once he reached Stockwell station, he picked up a free newspaper, walked through the barrier and went calmly down the escalator. Initial reports to the contrary are now accepted as wrong.
Was he ever positively identified as the terrorist suspect Osman by police?
No. No one in the surveillance team following De Menezes said he was definitely the suspect. Some said he was a good likeness, others said they did not think it was their man.
Somehow, according to their evidence at the inquest, the firearms team became convinced the man being followed had been positively identified as Osman.
Did police shout a warning when confronting De Menezes on the tube carriage?
The officers who shot De Menezes told the inquest a warning of "armed police" was shouted but he ignored it and continued walking towards them with his arms and hands in a position "consistent with someone who may be about to detonate a bomb hidden on their person or in a belt".
Seventeen civilian witnesses on the tube carriage said they heard no warning. Some police said the same.
Could police have stopped him earlier?
Yes. The officer in charge of the operation, Cressida Dick, ordered the surveillance officers to detain De Menezes seconds before he entered Stockwell station. They were armed but not trained to detain a potential suicide bomber.
A few seconds later she countermanded her order, having been told that specialist firearms officers were in a position to make the arrest – but in fact they were more than a minute behind De Menezes.
Is it against the law for the police to shoot dead an innocent man?
Police have no special protection under the law. The relevant law is section three of the 1967 Criminal Law Act, which reads: "A person may use such force as is reasonable in the prevention of crime."
If an officer honestly believes someone poses a threat to his or her life, or to the life of others, reasonable force may be used. This is what the officers who shot De Menezes have claimed.
The Metropolitan police were found guilty in 2007 of "catastrophic" health and safety failings leading up to the shooting. |