London's Metropolitan Police was today found guilty of breaching health and safety laws over the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes.
The innocent 27-year-old died following a "catastrophic" series of errors in the operation which ended in his death.
Jean Charles de Menezes
He was shot seven times by specialist firearms officers at Stockwell Tube station after being mistaken for failed suicide bomber Hussain Osman.
Prosecutors at London's Old Bailey court set out 19 alleged failings in the police operation in the hours leading up to the shooting on July 22nd, 2005. The jury convicted the force on the second day of its deliberations.
In a rider to the verdict, the jury cleared the officer in charge of the operation that led to the shooting, Cressida Dick of personal responsibility.
Ms Dick, gold commander of the Scotland Yard operation on the day, who spent four days giving evidence, said she was outraged at the perceived questioning of her integrity by the prosecution. She is one of four senior officers still facing possible disciplinary charges over the shooting.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair was in court to hear the verdict. The force has indicated it will appeal. Trial judge Mr Justice Henriques imposed a fine of £175,000 (€253,000) on the force and ordered ordered to pay £385,000 (€556,000) costs.
Mr Justice Henriques told the jury that the police were not "above the law". But Ronald Thwaites QC, representing the Metropolitan Police, said a conviction would have the effect of "putting handcuffs on the police".
Mr Thwaites said the summing up by Mr Justice Henriques was "entirely pro-prosecution, unbalanced and totally lacking in objectivity". He said the prosecution should never have been brought and that Mr de Menezes was acting like a suicide bomber when he was shot. The jury heard evidence that Mr de Menezes had taken cocaine and had a forged stamp in his passport. But campaigners reacted angrily to the way police defended the case, accusing them of a "sickening" attempt to blacken Mr de Menezes's name.
There was also a bitter courtroom battle over prosecution claims that a composite image of the Brazilian victim and Osman, produced by the defence, had been doctored to make them look more alike.
Sir Ian, whose office was on trial during the case, said before it started that he feared a guilty verdict would have a "profound" impact on policing throughout the United Kingdom.