Police officers cleared in De Menezes case
- Fred Attewill and agencies
- guardian.co.uk,
- Friday December 21 2007
The Met's deputy assistant commissioner, Cressida Dick. Photograph: Andrew Stuart/PA
The family of Jean Charles de Menezes have bitterly criticised the decision of the police watchdog that no disciplinary action will be taken against four Metropolitan police officers for their roles in events leading to his fatal shooting.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) decision closes the last of the watchdog's reviews into the shooting of the innocent Brazilian electrician in July 2005 at Stockwell underground station in south London. An inquest is expected to take place next year. The Met's deputy assistant commissioner, Cressida Dick, who was in charge of the control room, has been cleared, along with three officers on the ground identified only as Silver, Trojan 84 and Trojan 80.
The IPCC ruling means the guilty verdict in the healthy and safety trial at the Old Bailey last month, which saw the Met fined £175,000 for "catastrophic" errors, did not amount to personal misconduct.
In May, the watchdog cleared 11 other officers involved in the shooting.
De Menezes' cousin, Vivian Figuierdo, called the decision a "scandal" and said it was "entirely premature" to have made the announcement before the inquest.
She said: "If the jury at the health and safety trial found the police guilty of catastrophic errors - why is it that no police officer is being held individually accountable?"
The Menezes family solicitor, Harriet Wistrich, said: "We fear that if new evidence emerges at the inquest, it may be harder to bring disciplinary decisions in the future as officers could argue abuse of process."
The victim's family are already taking their case against the decision not to prosecute individuals to the European court of human rights.
Delivering their guilty verdict in the health and safety trial, the jury made clear that Dick bore "no personal culpability" even though she led the operation.
The IPCC said it had considered whether Dick was responsible for planning or management failures that led to the force's conviction, but found the jury's rider "unequivocal".
A spokesman said: "The IPCC cannot foresee any circumstances in which new evidence might emerge which would cause any disciplinary tribunal to disregard the jury's rider.
"The responsibilities of DAC Dick and Silver, Trojan 84 and Trojan 80 were intertwined. The IPCC cannot see how any disciplinary tribunal could conclude that although no personal blame is attached to DAC Dick, it could attach to the other three officers."
The Met welcomed the decision as a "move forward". A spokesman said: "The shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes is a matter of deep regret to the Metropolitan police service and our continued thoughts are with his family.
"We acknowledge and welcome today's recommendation by the IPCC that the remaining four officers should not face disciplinary proceedings for their part in the events of July 22 2005.
"We are pleased by this move forward and for these officers and their families who have faced much uncertainty."
In a report released after the trial, the IPCC said a string of failings led to the innocent man being shot dead after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.
The report criticised Dick for failing to make it clear that her instruction to "stop" De Menezes did not mean that she wanted him shot. It was revealed that she missed part of a briefing because she was sent to the wrong room and she had been unaware how far out of position a firearms team vital to the operation had been.
De Menezes was followed from a south London address police believed was used by a terrorist suspect. He was supposed to be stopped by elite armed officers, but despite being ordered to get to the scene at 5am, they took more than four hours and were out of position and unable to stop De Menezes until he entered the underground station.
Last week, the IPCC concluded that Andy Hayman, the former Met chief counter-terrorism officer, should be reprimanded for breaking "code five of the police code of conduct that says officers should be conscientious and diligent in the performance of their duties" because of his actions following the shooting.
The Met commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, was criticised for delaying the IPCC's investigation into the shooting but has refused to resign and retains the support of the Metropolitan police authority and the government.
CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO SEE FAMILY STATEMENT OUTSIDE OLD BAILEY.
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