Senior Met officer apologises for terror raid disturbance
It's taken a full week but, at last, the Metropolitan Police have issued an apology for the "inconvenience and disturbance" caused by them sending 250 officers to conduct a raid on a house in the Forest Gate district of London.
However, even as the assistant commissioner Andy Hayman tried to placate demonstrators angered by the raids, he warned that, in the current climate, there would be further raids of a similar kind.
The two men arrested, one of whom the police shot, have still to be released.
Police have until 4pm tomorrow to do so, although newspapers are hinting that they may apply for an extension to the 14 day limit.
If this case is an example of the increased police powers that Blair lobbied Parliament for, then I am delighted that Parliament curtailed his worst excesses and disappointed that they gave him any leeway at all.
Ever since the police raided this house they have seemed unsure of the merits of their actions.
For the first four days they refused to even confirm whether or not they shot Mohammed Abul Kaher, it is claimed without giving him any warning, or even identifying themselves as police officers.
They then started issuing claims that they "had no choice" other than to act on the information that they received, which was as near as we were going to get to a tacit admission that they, and the information they were acting on, was wrong.
However, despite Mr Hayman's pleas for calm, the fact remains that two men are still being held in custody and the police appear to have no case against them.
This hardly inspires confidence in the Metropolitan Police Force.
Why are these men still being held when the case against them appears to have collapsed?
Public confidence in the police will be eroded if they appear to be holding people in custody for no other reason than to save face. And based on the lack of evidence given in this case, it's hard to think of any other reason as to why they are holding these men.
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