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brother · Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 8920 Location: London/Cyprus

'Shoot-to-kill' suspension call

An image leaked to ITV shows Mr de Menezes lying dead on the tube

The family of a man shot dead by police who mistakenly suspected him of being a suicide bomber are calling for the "shoot-to-kill" policy to be suspended.

It comes after leaked documents contradicted previous accounts of the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July.

Investigation papers, leaked to ITV, suggest the Brazilian was restrained before being shot eight times.

His family say they want a full judicial inquiry to reveal the "truth".

Denim jacket

The documents, seemingly from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation into the shooting, contradict first reports which suggested Mr de Menezes did not hurdle the barrier at Stockwell tube station and was not wearing a padded jacket that could have concealed a bomb.

They also suggest Mr de Menezes had walked into Stockwell Tube station, picked up a free newspaper, walked through ticket barriers, had started to run when he saw a train arriving and was sitting down in a train when he was shot.

The leak suggests the electrician was restrained before shot

In the immediate aftermath of the incident - which happened a day after the 21 July failed bomb attacks in London - police said Mr de Menezes had been acting suspiciously and suggested he had vaulted the ticket barriers.

Police also said the 27-year-old electrician had worn a large winter-style coat - but the leaked version suggested he had in fact worn a denim jacket.

Mr de Menezes' cousin Allessandro Pereira said: "My family deserve the full truth about his murder. The truth cannot be hidden any longer. It has to be made public.

"Everything we have said has been proved to be true.

"Jean was an innocent man who was shot in cold blood. We now know that he wasn't wearing a bulky jacket, that he wasn't acting suspiciously or that he was told to stop by the police.

"He was being restrained when he was shot and killed."

The IPCC made it clear that we would not speculate or release partial information about the investigation, and that others should not do so

IPCC statement

Questioning 'shoot-to-kill'

He said the police should have stopped his cousin before he got to the bus stop after leaving home in Tulse Hill. "He would have helped the police," he said.

"They killed my cousin, they could kill anyone, any English person."

For the full news report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4159310.stm

Like i said they killed an innoccent man and tried to cover it up it seems, this is outrageous and those responsible must be bought in to answer for it

cannedmoose · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:35 pm Post subject:

I hate seeing the combination of 'leaked papers' and 'suggest'... it often implies that hacks are reading into them what they want to. Let's wait for the results of the inquiry. Suffice to say this man was an innocent victim, but on the whole I trust the police in this country not to go round shooting people for the hell of it.

brother · Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 8920 Location: London/Cyprus

I have no faith in the racist british police, it has been proven over and over again how racist they are and this goes a long way to prove their trigger happy status imo.

cannedmoose · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:49 pm Post subject:

I think that's a bit OTT Bro'. Compared to many police forces around the world that I've had the misfortune of confronting, the British police are by-and-large an excellent force. The number of incidents involving armed officers shooting innocent people is miniscule and I think the Brazilian authorities have some cheek in criticising them since Brazil has about 1,000 incidents every year in which people are shot dead by armed policemen. This poor guy had far more chance of being shot by an officer in Sao Paolo than in London.

brother · Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 8920 Location: London/Cyprus

I accept what you are saying but i have seen the racist side of british policemen too often and as recently as this year concerning their attitude towards my family when my wife and child were attacked by a racist, it took my threatening legal action against the force and getting the MP involved before they treated it with any kind of respect required and under the present climate in this country this confirms my dismall view on them.