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Britain's top cop apologises
02/08/2007 21:16 - (SA)
London - Britain's top police officer Ian Blair on Thursday apologised for the "profoundly shocking" killing of a Brazilian man mistaken for a terrorist but said he had "not lied" in the aftermath of the shooting two years ago.
Blair said "sorry" for the mistakes that had been made in "internal and external communications" following the shooting of 27- year-old Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes on July 22 2005.
"Despite much speculation to the contrary I did not lie to the public," Blair, the chief of Scotland Yard and Britain's most senior policeman, said.
His statement followed a report from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) watchdog on Thursday which accused Blair's deputy, Andy Hayman, of having "deliberately withheld" information that an innocent man had been killed.
The IPPC report said Hayman, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police (Met), had "misled" senior officers and the public by failing to tell Blair "at the first opportunity" of his suspicion that an innocent man had been killed.
The IPPC upheld its demand for disciplinary action against Hayman, but cleared Blair of any blame.
Blair, calling the killing of Menezes an "absolute tragedy", said he had not been briefed about the true identity of the victim by the time he left his office late in the evening of July 22.
"I went home that night thinking about how to protect London as a whole. The shooting was not the only one of my concerns," said Blair, adding that London that month found itself under terrorism threat "unparalleled in modern history".
Menezes was struck down with seven shots to the head on an underground train after a police chase at Stockwell Tube station in south London in the morning of July 22.
The shooting happened two weeks after the major terrorist suicide bombings on London's transport network on July 7 2005.
He insisted on Thursday that he was not told until the following morning that the wrong man had been shot. "I was not informed until 10:30 the next day," he said.
However, Blair conceded "shortcomings" in communications and admitted that "some information related to the press was wrong".
"It is difficult to believe that Blair was not told until the next morning. It would be equally shocking if he was kept out of the picture," said Harriet Wistrich, lawyer for the Menezes' family.
A cousin of the Brazilian, whose family has repeatedly called on Blair to resign, said the "damning report" showed that a senior officer lied.
The shooting of Menezes had been a "terrible mistake", said Nassem Malik of the IPCC. "They mistook an entirely innocent man for one of the terrorist suspects and shot him dead."
"They then released inaccurate information that suggested in some ways Mr de Menezes had brought his fate upon himself. He wore and did nothing out of the ordinary. There is no action he could have consciously taken that would have saved him," said Malik.
- Sapa-dpa
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