UK: Blair criticised for delaying de Menezes shooting probe

A long-awaited report also said prosecutors considered and rejected murder charges against the two officers who fired the fatal shots.

Charges of gross negligence against Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, who was in charge of the ill-fated operation, were also considered and rejected.

The report highlighted a series of major failings, including poor communication between officers that led to the innocent Brazilian being mistakenly identified as a wanted terrorist.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Mr Blair took steps to exclude IPCC investigators from the scene – one chief inspector recorded in his log that he was told the move was “on the authority of the Commissioner and the Prime Minister”.

Today’s report said this decision by Mr Blair was of “major concern” and “should never occur again”.

It noted that the IPCC was set up by an Act of Parliament to investigate all serious incidents involving the police.

Mr Hardwick said: “The Commissioner attempted to prevent us carrying out an investigation.

“In my view, much of the avoidable difficulty the Stockwell incident has caused the Metropolitan Police arose from the delay in referral.

“In June 2006 the regulations were changed to put beyond doubt the IPCC’s powers to investigate an incident of this kind.”

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith released a statement restating her “full confidence” in Mr Blair and the Metropolitan Police in the light of the IPCC report.

Ms Smith said: “The Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the Metropolitan Police remain in the forefront of the fight against crime and terrorism. They have my full confidence and our thanks and support in the difficult job that they do.”

But members of Mr de Menezes’ family said Sir Ian’s position was “untenable” as a result of the combined failings of his force.

They vowed to continue their fight to hold individual officers personally responsible for their actions.

His cousin Vivian Figueiredo said: “Until all those directly involved in Jean’s death have been held accountable in a court of law we will not rest.”

After the report was made public, Mr Blair said he was satisfied the Met had “significantly improved” procedures for dealing with life-threatening situations.

The Commissioner again defended his own handling of events after the shooting and said: “I intend to remain in this post.

“My reasoning is very simple – by the very nature of its task, the history of the Metropolitan Police Service is littered with controversial events.

“I don’t need to repeat a litany of them now but every Commissioner has such events on his watch.”

The report disclosed that:

:: Police officers failed to take advantage of a 30-minute window of opportunity to correctly identify whether Mr de Menezes was a suspected terrorist;

:: There was no contingency plan available to deal with a suspect travelling on public transport despite the nature of the 7/7 and 21/7 attacks;

:: None of the 17 members of the public on board the Stockwell train recalled hearing officers shout “armed police”, but all eight police in the carriage said they had;

:: Armed response officers from the Met’s CO19 unit were not in place to intercept suspects leaving Scotia Road, and were later in the wrong place to intercept him;

:: Ms Dick should have said that the Met’s shoot-to-kill policy, Operation Kratos, had not been engaged, and there was confusion over what the order to “stop” Mr de Menezes meant.

Much of the 167-page IPCC report formed the basis of the successful Old Bailey prosecution against the Metropolitan Police for health and safety breaches.

But it contained previously unpublished details about the police operation and the final moments of Mr de Menezes’ life on board the Northern Line train.

There were eyewitness accounts of the moments of Mr de Menezes’ death, including details of the state of mind of the two men who pulled their triggers.

The report also included disturbing details of the blood-soaked scene and the shocking injuries Mr de Menezes suffered.

Under-fire Commissioner Sir Ian lost a vote of confidence at a meeting of the London Assembly yesterday.

Asked whether the report piled further pressure on Sir Ian, Mr Hardwick said: “Sir Ian Blair’s position isn’t a matter for us. I’m not going to get into a discussion about Sir Ian Blair’s future. We did not investigate Sir Ian Blair.”

Report author John Cummins said the Commissioner’s steps to delay the IPCC inquiry led to a number of problems.

Crucially, the IPCC’s investigators were barred from the scene of the shooting itself, he said.

“There has been much reporting of the failure of the CCTV at Stockwell Tube station and on the train itself,” he told a press conference in central London.

“Had the IPCC investigation team been there at the outset we would have been able to confirm that immediately.

“There were a number of stories and conspiracy theories about the CCTV. We could have prevented that from the outset.”

Mr Hardwick said the IPCC had yet to decide whether it will recommend disciplinary measures for the four senior officers in charge of the operation.

“We will do that as quickly as we can,” he said.

He added that he was satisfied that good progress was being made in implementing the 16 recommendations in the report.

“These are failings that could and should have been avoided,” he said.