This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/7021401.stm
The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| Police 'failure' in Menezes death | |
| (21 minutes later) | |
| Police firearms officers shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes because of "fundamental failures" in planning, a court has heard. | Police firearms officers shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes because of "fundamental failures" in planning, a court has heard. |
| An Old Bailey jury heard Mr Menezes was killed by officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber at Stockwell Tube station in London on 22 July, 2005. | An Old Bailey jury heard Mr Menezes was killed by officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber at Stockwell Tube station in London on 22 July, 2005. |
| It is alleged by the prosecution that the Metropolitan Police breached health and safety laws during the operation. | It is alleged by the prosecution that the Metropolitan Police breached health and safety laws during the operation. |
| The force denies the charge and the trial is expected to last six weeks. | The force denies the charge and the trial is expected to last six weeks. |
| 'Disaster' | 'Disaster' |
| Clare Montgomery QC, prosecuting, said the "disaster" of the Brazilian electrician's death was "not the result of a fast-moving operation going suddenly and unpredictably awry". | Clare Montgomery QC, prosecuting, said the "disaster" of the Brazilian electrician's death was "not the result of a fast-moving operation going suddenly and unpredictably awry". |
| "It was the result of fundamental failures to carry out a planned operation in a safe and reasonable way," she said. | "It was the result of fundamental failures to carry out a planned operation in a safe and reasonable way," she said. |
| The allegation against police was that they carried out the investigation and pursuit of a suspected suicide bomber "in such a way that the public were exposed to the possibility of danger," she said. | |
| "We say that the police planned and carried out an operation that day so badly that the public were needlessly put at risk and Jean Charles was killed as a result." | "We say that the police planned and carried out an operation that day so badly that the public were needlessly put at risk and Jean Charles was killed as a result." |
| Miss Montgomery told the jurors that while some of the officers present when Mr de Menezes was shot would be called to give evidence, the two who actually killed him would not. | |
| Only those who it was felt would give a "real insight" into the police operation that day would be called, she said. | |
| Police 'not above law' | |
| She urged jurors to put out of their minds anything they might have heard about the case or any sympathy they might have with Mr de Menezes, or for the police, who are formally being prosecuted in the form of the Commissioner of the Met. | |
| "Nobody takes any pleasure in the death of this young man and equally no-one can take any pleasure at a trial of the Commissioner at the Old Bailey. | |
| "But the law treats all employers equally and no-one, not even the police, are above it," Miss Montgomery said. | |
| She also revealed that some witnesses, because of the "sensitive nature" of the work they do, are being allowed to give evidence under an assumed name and screened from the public view. | |
| Jurors will be shown CCTV recordings and a reconstruction of Mr Menezes's journey, as well as police logs made by officers. | |
| Following the Independent Police Complaints Commission's report into the circumstances surrounding the shooting, the Crown Prosecution Service decided that no individual should be prosecuted in connection with the case. | Following the Independent Police Complaints Commission's report into the circumstances surrounding the shooting, the Crown Prosecution Service decided that no individual should be prosecuted in connection with the case. |
| The penalty on conviction is an unlimited fine. | The penalty on conviction is an unlimited fine. |
| Mr Menezes, 27, was shot dead by anti-terrorist police during the biggest manhunt in the force's history. | Mr Menezes, 27, was shot dead by anti-terrorist police during the biggest manhunt in the force's history. |
| The case continues. |