UK: Menezes shoot-to-kill file goes to CPS
01 November 2005
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) handed its investigation file on the police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in January. The file is thought to name between ten and fifteen police officers who could face criminal charges for their involvement in the shoot-to-kill operation which saw seven "dum-dum" bullets pumped into the Brazilian's head as he sat on an underground train at Stockwell station on 23 July 2005. It was the day after a series of bomb scares on the London transport network and the killing occurred as part of the broader Operation Kratos, which was formulated after the 11 September attacks in the USA, in the event of a terrorist attack in the UK
The decision by the IPCC to send a file on the killing of Jean Charles to the CPS implies that they believe there is evidence that a crime has been committed.
Leaked documents from the IPCC investigation have provided a framework within which to place the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes. Initially, a police surveillance team outside a block of flats in Stockwell identified the wrong man as a suspect after one of the team left to relieve himself. Further miscommunications meant that a firearms unit failed to arrive in time to intercept the suspect before he reached the underground station; firearms officers had to rush into the station to locate Jean Charles. When they eventually discovered him on board a train he was shot dead in front of about 30 witnesses. In response to the shooting Scotland Yard initially linked their victim to the earlier bomb scares, before acknowledging that the Brazilian citizen had no connection to them. Scotland Yard then attempted to maintain control of the investigation into the shooting, arguing that because the incident was "terrorist-related" it should remain "in house". Although unsuccessful in this ploy it did succeed in delaying the IPCC from beginning its investigation for five days, preventing the complaints body from securing the crime scene. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, has denied that this was an attempt at a cover up.
The leaked documents also suggest that Jean Charles did nothing to arouse suspicion. Stories that were leaked to the press, suggesting that the victim was wearing a "suspicious" heavy winter coat or that he had vaulted the ticket barrier, were fictions; rather than leaping the ticket barrier Jean Charles actually bought a newspaper as he strolled to the train. All of these rumours have had the effect of diverting attention from the real issues that arise from the adoption of a police shoot-to-kill under Operation Kratos, the slaying of an innocent man, the lack of police accountability and the secret decision to adopt "dum-dum", or hollow-point ammunition, which expands and then splinters on impact. Hollow-point ammunition is banned in warfare under international convention.
"IPCC submits Jean Charles de Menezes Investigation File to CPS" IPCC press release 19.1.06