Police to face lesser charges over Menezes

It is being reported as "increasingly likely" that Metropolitan Police officers will not face manslaughter charges over the gunning down of Charles de Menenzes at Stockwell tube station but that the Met as a whole will be charged under health and safety laws for failing in its duty of care to protect Mr Menezes.

A decision to exonerate the officers involved in the shooting will be greeted with anger by Mr Menezes' supporters, who have been pressing for criminal charges. The inquiry into the shooting, carried out by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, is understood to have accused the Met of organisational failure, particularly in the areas of surveillance and communications.

The strong criticism of the running of the Met will be damaging to Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner, who is facing pressure to resign. He will also be censured for trying to prevent the IPCC from investigating the case.

The shooting came a day after four men failed in an attempt to set off bombs on a bus and Tube trains in London. Commander Cressida Dick was in overall charge of the surveillance and firearms operation in Tooting, south-west London, as police searched for the four bombers. Mr Menezes was mistakenly identified as one of the suspected terrorists and was followed by surveillance officers as he left his flat, boarded a bus and made his way into the Tube station and on to a train. Mrs Dick, who has told IPCC investigators that she believed the suspect was one of the suicide bombers, is said to have told firearms officers to stop the suspect at all costs. She is the most senior of 11 officers who were considered for prosecution. She was one of only a few who is understood to have given a full statement to the IPCC.

Strangely, I have no real difficulty with this as I never held any individual officers responsible. They were always acting on orders issued much higher up the food chain.

I still have many questions regarding the way this operation was carried out. Why wasn't de Menezes stopped at a safe distance in the street and asked to remove his top, a practice that the Israelis have shown to be very effective?

Why was a suspected suicide bomber allowed to board a bus, two weeks after a bus had been blown up in London?

Why did it take the police so long to admit that they had made a dreadful mistake when it must have been immediately obvious that the man they had slain was not wearing a suicide belt?

Having presided over de Menenzes' death, and having admitted to taping phone calls with the Attorney General, what will it take to get Sir Ian Blair to resign?

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Tags: Charles, de Menezes, London, shooting, underground, 7-7, Blair, Metropolitan, Police, Commisioner,