BRITAIN: The Metropolitan police in London and its commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, were under strong pressure last night over blunders that led to the shooting of an innocent Brazilian by officers who suspected he was a suicide bomber.
Relatives of 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot dead by police on an underground train at Stockwell the day after the failed bomb attacks on July 21st, called for the officers involved to be jailed for life.
Lawyers representing Mr de Menezes's family called on Sir Ian to resign over the controversy.
The new storm over the shooting of Mr de Menezes erupted yesterday in the wake of leaked documents from an official investigation which revealed that the police operation on the day had gone wrong from the outset. The documents revealed that Mr de Menezes was being restrained by police at the time he was shot in the head.
The details in the papers, which include witness statements from people in the Tube station, differ significantly from the circumstances of the shooting as set out in the media and in some police briefings immediately after the event.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) documents suggest Mr de Menezes had done little to arouse suspicion other than to emerge from a flat that had been under surveillance.
Mr de Menezes's cousin, Alex Alvez Pereira, said yesterday: "The officers who have done this have to be sent to jail for life because it's murder and the people who gave them the order to shoot must be punished."
The leaked report says Mr de Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder by officers who believed he was Hussein Osman, the man suspected of involvement in the failed bomb attack in Shepherd's Bush the previous day.
The report highlights serious blunders in the police operation, including the revelation that the officer watching the flats where the Brazilian man lived had been relieving himself when Mr de Menezes emerged, and was unable to switch on a video camera that would have allowed colleagues to compare pictures of him with footage of Osman.
Early accounts of the shooting suggested Mr de Menezes had been challenged by officers at Stockwell station and then fled, vaulting a ticket barrier to escape his pursuers.
But according to the leaked report, CCTV footage showed he entered the station at normal walking pace and slowly descended the escalators. He even picked up a free copy of the Metro newspaper.
The Brazilian was seen to board a train through the middle doors before pausing, looking left and right, then sitting down on a seat facing the platform.
It was also claimed at first that Mr de Menezes had been wearing a thick coat, and that this had given further cause for suspicion. But the report said he was wearing only a light denim jacket.
It also quoted one officer as saying he was able to grab Mr de Menezes and pin his arms to his side before the shooting started.
Harriet Wistrich, the lawyer for Mr de Menezes's family, said they had always known his shooting was the result of a dreadful mistake and that they "wanted answers" over why "misleading" information about his death had emerged.
"The police must have been partly responsible for that," she said.
Ms Wistrich and another lawyer representing the family, Gareth Peirce, said yesterday it now appeared the "entire body of information" placed in the public domain since the shooting was wrong.
The Home Office yesterday refused to discuss the leaked report.