Police face £560k Stockwell bill
Updated on 01 November 2007
The Metropolitan Police has been found guilty over the shooting of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes.
The Met was fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £385,000 in costs.
The senior officer in charge of the case, Cressida Dick, will not face charges, as the court found that she had no personal culpability.
de Menezes was shot dead at Stockwell underground station in 2005, after police officers mistook him for a suicide bomber.
The Met was tried under the Health and Safety legislation for failing in its duty to protect the public. It now face a potentially unlimited fine.
The finding will increase the pressure on Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, who has been criticised for his handling of the affair.
Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead at Stockwell underground station in 2005, after police officers mistook him for a suicide bomber.
The Met has been criticised for the delay in disclosing the fact that one of its officers had shot an innocent man.
Trial judge Mr Justice Henriques told the jury that the police were not "above the law".
He said: "This was very much an isolated breach brought about by quite extraordinary circumstances. One person died and many others were placed in potential danger."
"In sentencing I shall not lose sight of the fact that this was a unique and difficult operation."
