Met chief under pressure
Updated on 08 November 2007
After the Met was found guilty of health and safety breaches in the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, the report on which the verdict was based is released.
The IPCC has finally published the report on which last week's Metropolitan Police were found guilty of breaching health and safety guidelines over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
verdict that prosecution had been based.
One hundred and seventy pages detailing 16 areas of concern, among them concern over why it took so long for the firearms team to be deployed that morning, why doubts concerning the suspects identity were not relayed to the control room and why so many failures of communication impeded the operation.
The report details accounts of those on the train at the time of the shooting.
The firearms officer codenamed Charlie 2 told the investigation that he was convinced that Mr de Menezes was a suicide bomber about to explode a device.
At close range he and Charlie 12 fired nine bullets at the Brazilian. I shot missed, another misfired. Both officers, it was reported, had blood on their faces, on their hair and on their clothes.
Immediately after the publication of the IPCC report this morning, the family of Mr de Menezes said that they would now take the case to the European court of human rights.
The IPCC has still to decide whether any disciplinary charges should be brought against four of the senior officers involved in the operation, including the commander on the day, Cressida Dick.
As for the Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, there was further criticism today of his decision making.
Sir Ian Blair, as he did yesterday, reiterated that he wouldn't resign over this matter.
But the only body which has the power to dismiss him, the Metropolitan Police Authority, today announced that in two weeks time they'd be holding an extraordinary meeting to discuss recent events. It's thought a vote of confidence in the commissioner will be almost inevitable.
One member of the MPA told Channel 4 News this afternoon that it was time for the authority to consider its own actions in all of this before rushing to votes of confidence on the commissioner.
