- The Brazilian electrician shot dead by police on the
London Underground last month was being restrained when he was killed by
officers from Scotland Yard's firearms unit, according to documents leaked
last night.
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- Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot seven times in
the head by two plainclothes policemen who had followed him on to the train
at Stockwell station in the mistaken belief that he was a potential suicide
bomber. Documents and photographs leaked to ITV News also confirmed that
Mr de Menezes did not run from the police, as had been reported, had used
his Tube pass to enter the station, rather than vault the barrier, and
had taken a seat on the train before being grabbed by an officer.
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- He was wearing a light denim jacket and not as previously
reported a padded coat which could have concealed explosives.
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- The documents, which contain witness statements made
to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, also suggest that the
intelligence operation may have been botched because an officer watching
a flat believed to be the hideout of one of the suspects in the abortive
July 21 attack was "relieving himself".
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- Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner,
has apologised for the death of Mr de Menezes and a senior officer has
visited Brazil to talk to his family. However, the latest disclosures will
cast fresh light on Sir Ian's insistence that the death was the tragic
consequence of a legitimate operation.
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- Shortly after the shooting, Sir Ian said: "Whatever
else they were doing, they clearly thought they were faced with a suicide
bomber and they were running towards him. Had that person been a suicide
bomber and had the officers not fired and 25 yards up the track the bomb
had exploded, the officers would be in a worse situation than they are
now."
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- He insisted that lethal force was the only option available
to his officers once they had satisfied themselves Mr de Menezes was a
suicide bomber. Yet a few days later, West Midlands police used a Taser
stun weapon to arrest Yasin Hassan Omar, one of the July 21 suspects. Mr
de Menezes was killed the day after the failed attacks on Tube trains and
a bus.
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- Guidelines issued since the September 11 attacks emphasise
that police must not challenge suicide bombers or identify themselves for
fear of prompting the bomber to detonate his device. Instead, they may
fire a "critical head shot prior to challenge".
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- The complaints commission has taken statements from officers
in the operation. Among the questions being asked is why the intelligence
on the occupants of the flats suspected of harbouring the terror suspects
failed to identify Mr de Menezes as an innocent party.
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- It will also seek to establish why he was allowed to
board a bus when buses had been targets in the two previous attacks. His
family cannot reconcile the police assertion that he had to be stopped
once he had boarded a Tube train with the fact that he got on to a bus.
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- Questions will also be asked over why the impression
that he was wearing a padded fleece was given continued credence when the
photographs broadcast last night show him dressed differently. Wearing
bulky clothing not in keeping with the weather is considered a sign of
a potential suicide bomber.
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- Scotland Yard said last night that it was unable to comment
on any reports about the incident while it was being investigated.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
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