Police officer who killed Jean Charles de Menezes apologises to his family in Netflix doc

Yahoo

01-07-2025

A firearms officer known only as C2 publicly has spoken out for the first time about his part in Jean Charles de Menezes' death in 2005, sharing in Netflix's new 7/7 documentary that he regretted the innocent man's killing and he apologised to his family.
Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers examines the events of the devastating terrorist attacks that took place on 7 July 2005, which saw 52 people killed when bombs were detonated on three tube trains and a London bus. A copy cat attack was attempted on 21 July, and when the bombs failed to detonate and the bombers evaded custody the police began a manhunt in order to find them.
On 22 July 2005, Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was wrongly identified as one of the four attempted bombers. This misidentification occurred after one of the bombers was linked to the same block of flats in Tulse Hill, South London, that de Menezes lived in.
Police and firearms officers followed de Menezes to Stockwell tube station, where he was shot and killed on a Victoria line train by two officers known as C12 and C2. The 27-year-old was shot seven times in the head, with C2 firing five of these gunshots.
C2, whose face was hidden throughout the Netflix documentary, said his interview "will probably be the only time I will talk about it, rather than take it to my grave". He expressed his concerns over the way in which the operation was handled by senior officers but said he accepted responsibility for his actions.
Reflecting on what he would say to de Menezes' family in the final episode of the docuseries, C2 explained: "I would say to Jean Charles's family that I am sorry. That I, and another officer, were put in a position where we killed your son. I would do anything to roll back time to have a different set of circumstances where that didn't happen. It shouldn't have happened."
The third episode of the documentary recounted the events that led to de Menezes' death, with C2 saying that "there were very limited instructions" given on how to proceed when the Brazilian was wrongly suspected of being one of the would-be bombers, beyond a shoot to kill order.
Speaking about the events at Stockwell tube station, C2 explained: "I knew he was a minute, maybe two minutes ahead of me, so I had to run. I'm thinking, 'I cannot believe we have allowed this situation to develop, we have allowed someone we believe is a suicide bomber into the tube network, could have a device on him and he could initiate that device.
"My only way in was to leap over the barrier. I remember chasing down the escalator steps, I drew my weapon and I put it behind my back. The surveillance officer indicated who the subject was.
"The surveillance officer pinned his hands to his side. I was convinced we were about to die, I had a responsibility and I feared the very worst. I fired and so did my colleague Charlie 12. And I kept firing until I was absolutely certain there was no further threat."
He said that "time had slowed down" after he shot and killed de Menezes, adding: "I could not believe what had happened. To be frank I was numb with shock because of the horror of what had occurred. But there was a relief that we were still standing, and we had stopped an attack."
"I could not wait to get off the tube, away from that scene. I remember leaving in an unmarked police car."
When he returned home C2 "didn't get any sleep" and suffered from "massive tinnitus" after the incident, it was the next day that he learned the man he had killed was identified as de Menezes and that he was an innocent man.
"I can't describe how I felt, the worst feeling ever, I killed an innocent man and I now know who that man is," C2 said.
Following de Menezes' shooting there was widespread misreporting about the Brazilian's actions in the lead up to his killing, reports claimed that de Menezes was wearing a bulky jacket, had vaulted the barriers, and had attempted to flee from officers. None of this was true, and C2 spoke out against these inaccurate claims.
He explained: "It was widely reported that we had chased the subject down into the tube. That was not the case at all, I leapt over the barriers, C12 leapt over the barriers, not the suspect. He'd walked through, gone down the steps and got onto the tube long before we deployed. And I think that's where the confusion lies, it was us the public had seen, not the suspect."
The firearms officer was asked if he felt responsible, to which he said: "I am responsible, and I accept responsibility. As a firearms officer, ultimately, the decision to use force is yours. But why were we in that position? Those people who put him in that position they also have to answer."
In 2006 the Crown Prosecution Service decided against prosecuting the officers involved in the attacks. Dame Cressida Dick, who led the operation that resulted in de Menezes death, was cleared of any blame by a jury at the end of the prosecution of the Met under health and safety laws.
The force was fined £175,000 in 2007 after being found guilty of endangering the public, and in 2008 an inquest into de Menezes' death resulted in an open verdict by a jury. The coroner presiding over the case had not permitted the jury from considering a verdict of unlawful killing. The Met paid compensation to de Menezes' family in 2009.
In 2015 the electrician's family challenged the decision not to prosecute anyone involved in de Menezes' death at the European Court of Human Rights. However, in 2016 this bid was rejected when judges determined there was not enough evidence that the event breached human rights laws.
The police did arrest the four men involved in the 21/7 attempted terrorist attack. Hussain Osman, Ramzi Mohammed, Muktar Ibrahim and Yassin Omar were detained and found guilty of conspiracy to murder and they were each sentenced to life imprisonment, of which they have to serve a minimum of 40 years.
Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers is out now on Netflix.