Embattled Blair faces new armed police allegations
As Sir Ian Blair fights to keep his job following the guilty verdict for the Met over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, Mohammed Abdul Kahar - who was shot in the shoulder by police during a raid on his house in the Forest Gate area of London - has come forward to say that the police threatened to shoot him and his brother a second time in a completely unrelated incident two months ago.
The lawyer for the two brothers wrote to the police complaining about "the appalling situation" confronting the family and to ask for guarantees that there would not be repetitions.According to their account they were on a motorbike near their home two months ago when they stopped to watch a police operation at a pizza takeaway. As they drove off, they were followed by police and ordered to stop.
According to the brothers, one officer emerged from the car carrying a handgun. A second officer allegedly shouted "shoot him, shoot him, put him down." Mohammed Kahar said that he then replied: "Don't shoot me, my hands are in the air."
The brothers say they were manhandled off the motorcycle and one was pushed to the ground while the other was handcuffed. They claim that they were called "Paki", "tossers" and "wankers". Mohammed Kahar said he heard one officer say "that's the two brothers" and another asked "how many millions do you get?" - presumably a reference to compensation to be paid to the men over last year's raid. Their sister, who was passing by on a bus, intervened and was charged with a public order offence for which she has been issued with a fixed penalty notice.
An independent witness to the incident, who does not want to be named, said in his statement: "I saw an armed officer...holding a black gun about 50 cm long and pointing this at the men on the bike."
He said he had heard a male voice shouting "shoot him, shoot him". He said he also heard one of the brothers say "are you going to shoot me again?"
Commander Stuart Osborne of the Met's directorate of professional standards wrote to Ms Peirce: "The Metropolitan police is unable to provide any guarantees to your clients or any other member of the public that they will not be involved in any police incident, armed or otherwise."The brothers say they have gone public about this incident in light of Sir Ian's response to the De Menezes shooting. The brothers are not pursuing an official complaint because, they say, they do not have confidence in the process.
And why should they? Shortly after Kahar was shot, and at a time when many of us suspected that he would have a very good case for compensation, he was suddenly arrested on child pornography charges, charges which were eventually dropped. It's hard to imagine anyone whose dealings with the police were the same as Kahar's would have any faith left in making an official complaint.
But the brothers statements adds to the growing feeling that a new norm is beginning to form in the minds of the Met in the wake of 7-7; a norm described by Andy Hayman as: "The public may have to get used to this sort of incident, with the police having to be safe rather than sorry."
There is a certain recklessness to that attitude, just as there was an appalling recklessness to the actions of the officer screaming, "shoot him, shoot him, put him down" towards Kahan as he stood in the street with his arms in the air.
None of this aids Blair as he fights to keep his position. To wrongly shoot an innocent man once is a tragedy, to threaten to shoot him again - in a completely unrelated incident - borders on farce.
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