logo
Why was an innocent electrician shot and killed by police ‘in cold blood'?

Why was an innocent electrician shot and killed by police ‘in cold blood'?

Metro4 days ago
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
On July 22, 20 years ago today, electrician Jean Charles de Menezes left his home in Tulse Hill to fix a broken alarm.
Stopping to pick up a copy of Metro, the Brazilian national descended the stairs of Stockwell Tube Station and boarded the next train.
Unbeknownst to him, three officers – named only as Hotel 1, 2 and 3 – sat themselves around him. Moments later, he was shot seven times in the head by police, leaving his body 'unrecognisable'.
His devastated mum Maria has been pushing for prosecutions ever since, saying her son was 'educated and civilised' and 'always respected law and order'.
The family gathered today at a vigil outside the station, saying it is a 'travesty' no police officer has ever been held accountable.
Patricia da Silva Armani, Mr de Menezes' cousin, said: 'He was a completely innocent man. And yet, he was shot in cold blood.
'Nothing can erase the pain of knowing that the life of a hard-working, kind, and honest young man was taken from us out of prejudice and incompetence.
'Jean's memory demands more than words – it demands truth, accountability, and real change. We will not forget. We will not be silent.'
But what happened in those fatal few moments on the Tube, and why have the officers have not faced any disciplinary measures?
They wrongly thought the Jean Charles was part of the previous day's failed second wave of bomb attacks three weeks after the 7/7 terror attacks.
An address in Scotia Road, Tulse Hill, was written on a gym membership card found inside one of the bags where an undetonated bomb was hidden.
Police carried out extensive surveillance in the area, where Jean Charles lived in one of those flats with his two cousins.
As he left to respond to the faulty alarm, officers believed Jean Charles looked like the CCTV images of one of the bombing suspects Osman Hussain.
Cressida Dick, who later became Metropolitan Police Commissioner, ordered Jean Charles be prevented from entering the London Underground.
22 July 2005 Jean Charles de Menezes shot dead by police at Stockwell Tube station 17 July 2006 CPS says no officers will be prosecuted, but Met Police will be tried for breaching health and safety laws 1 November 2007 Met Police found guilty of breaching health and safety laws and fined 22 October 2008 Inquest under way – coroner rules out unlawful killing verdict a month later 12 December 2008 Inquest jury returns open verdict 16 November 2009 Met Police settles damages claim with family 10 June 2015 De Menezes family take legal challenge to European Court of Human Rights 30 March 2016 Family lose challenge over decision not to charge any police officer over the shooting
Officers followed him onto a bus and thought he was acting suspicious once he arrived at Brixton Station and found it was closed due to the previous day's bombings.
Jean Charles boarded the bus again to Stockwell Station, went down to the platform and got on the train.
Firearms officers boarded the train, with varying accounts of whether or not they spoke to the electrician or not.
They had all sat around him, and when Jean Charles stood up, an officer codenamed Hotel 3 grabbed, pinned his arms against his torso and pushed him back into his seat.
It is unclear what happens next. Two officers fired a total of 11 shots between them.
Seven of them landed in Jean Charles's head and his body was left 'unreconisable'.
Police said they had been told to fire directly at suspected suicide bomber's heads – which the Muslim Council of Britain described as a 'shoot-to-kill policy'.
Later investigation found the event had the 'hallmarks of a special forces operation, rather than a police one'.
No officers were prosecuted, but the Metropolitan Police force was fined for breaching health and safety laws. More Trending
Jean Charles's family took the force to the European Court of Human Rights in 2016 over the decision to not charge any officers.
But the family lost the challenge, with the force saying the circumstances around his death 'came at a time of unprecedented terrorist threat to London'.
They have also been subject to numerous public inquiries, and two separate reports by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The Met said: 'No officer sets out on duty intent on ending a life. Our sole purpose is the complete opposite – the protection and preservation of life – and we have taken extensive action to address the causes of this tragedy.'
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: 'First-of-its-kind' Eurostar-style train to directly connect UK with Berlin and two more cities
MORE: Husband who stabbed estranged wife in street as she pushed their baby in pram jailed for 28 years
MORE: Fans slam 'atrocious' immersive Elvis Presley show with tickets up to £300
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

At least 18 dead after bus overturns on highway and falls down slope
At least 18 dead after bus overturns on highway and falls down slope

Metro

time10 minutes ago

  • Metro

At least 18 dead after bus overturns on highway and falls down slope

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video At least 18 people have been killed and 48 injured after a bus travelling through the Andes flipped over on a highway. The double-decker was travelling from Peru's capital Lima to a region of the Amazon rainforest when it lost control, authorities said. It left the road and fell down a slope in the district of Palca, Junín region, around 160 miles east of Lima yesterday. Video of the incident shown on local television appeared to show the vehicle, operated by a company named Expreso Molina Líder Internacional, split in two. More Trending Footage also captured local firefighters and police attempting to rescue survivors. Authorities are still investigating what happened to cause the crash. Several fatal bus crashes have happened in Peru in recent years, with a British tourist killed in one incident in October 2023. Six people died in another crash on January 3 this year, when a bus slid into a river. A further 32 were injured. Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ Or you can submit your videos and pictures here. For more stories like this, check our news page. Follow on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here. MORE: Missing TikTok star's body found dismembered in bags at water treatment plant

Cruise ship worker jumps overboard after ‘stabbing female colleague'
Cruise ship worker jumps overboard after ‘stabbing female colleague'

Metro

time2 hours ago

  • Metro

Cruise ship worker jumps overboard after ‘stabbing female colleague'

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A cruise ship worker jumped overboard to his death after a repeatedly stabbing a female colleague. The 35-year-old South African crew member was working on a Royal Caribbean cruise when he attacked his 28-year-old coworker on Thursday. She was stabbed multiple times as the Icon of the Seas ship sailed through the Bahamas, and is now in a stable condition. Footage shows rescuers searching for the man who went overboard, with medics managing to retrieve his body and perform CPR. But he was pronounced dead at the scene. Royal Caribbean said: 'One of the crew members was injured, [she] was attended to by the onboard medical team, and she is now in stable condition. 'Unfortunately, the other crew member is deceased after he went overboard.' All passengers received an Oscar alert after the incident, which notifies everyone someone has fallen into the water. The boat turned back to retrieve the man as it approached San Salvador, which is around 200 miles East of Nassau. 'Unfortunately, the crew member passed away,' Royal Caribbeanconfirmed in a statement to Cruise Hive. 'We extend our condolences to the crew member's family and loved ones. To respect their privacy, we have no additional details to share.' More Trending The cruise was on a seven-day trip and is still on course to return to Miami on Saturday. The Icon of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship at 1,200 ft long. It holds up to 7,600 passengers and weights 250,800 tons. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: New arrest in cold case of mum killed 30 years ago walking home from shops MORE: Young people are falling through the cracks when it comes to sexual abuse and it's killing them MORE: Boy dies after being 'left in hot car by child services driver shopping for tobacco'

Young people are falling through the cracks when it comes to sexual abuse
Young people are falling through the cracks when it comes to sexual abuse

Metro

time12 hours ago

  • Metro

Young people are falling through the cracks when it comes to sexual abuse

Gaia Pope was just a teenager when she died. A 'loving and intelligent' girl, the 19-year-old enjoyed painting and drawing, and was described by friends as someone who 'hated injustice'. Gaia was also just a teenager when she was raped, groomed, and assaulted. Then 16, she became a victim of a huge injustice herself after local authorities missed more than 50 opportunities to support her. Instead, the young woman left her aunt's home in Swanage on November 7, 2017, and vanished without a trace after calling her twin sister. She had been suffering from PTSD and anxiety at the time, having just learned that her alleged rapist was released from prison. 11 days later, Gaia's body was found in a quiet area on the Dorset coastline. 'The world is less without Gaia,' her cousin Marienna Pope-Weidemann tells Metro. 'She used to come up to London with me to join the Save the NHS marches back when we had big demonstrations. 'She marched for the public services that eventually let her down so badly it killed her.' Gaia's story is not a one-off. Due to a deadly mix of underfunded services and a lack of education, thousands of young victims of sexual abuse in the UK are missing out on vital help. 'Support services for survivors have been decimated in the last 10 years during the course of the previous government,' Marienna explains. 'We talk about this issue as though it's some kind of super complicated technical saying that ordinary people can't understand, but it's not rocket science. We have a problem with funding essential public services in this country – that's what it comes down to.' Statistics around child sex abuse in the UK are staggering. Of an estimated 500,000 children abused each year, only 105,000 offences are recorded by police. Less than 2% of these young victims are seen by sexual assault referral centres in England and Wales and receive the help they need. Tony Kelly, a team manager for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children based in Liverpool, tells Metro that there needs to be more funding for sexual abuse organisations to help counsel young victims. Currently, the NSPCC is able to offer young survivors of sexual abuse up to 38 sessions – one of the highest numbers offered by a free service. 'But when you've got 500,000 children a year suffering sexual abuse, whether directly or online, and you've only got 450 centres across the UK to provide support – it really, really isn't enough,' admits Tony. 'And it's a number that's only gone up over the years.' Susan Geoghegan, a therapeutic social worker with the NSPCC in Liverpool, tells Metro that a lot of young people 'slip through the net' and never disclose their abuse. She explains: 'Even if they have, sometimes their disclosure hasn't gone anywhere because the adult that they tell might not know how to respond, or they may not believe what they've said. 'It can be so incomprehensible what a young child has said, and adults can have trouble managing that. 'I used to work in the substance misuse field. The number of people I worked with who have been addicted to drugs and alcohol and have been sexually abused… It's just something that's not dealt with.' Tony adds: 'We need to be able to have those uncomfortable conversations, whether it's within schools, in families or in the wider community, it's about recognising that child sexual abuse happens. It's the only way we can prevent it and support young people. 'There's also a large number of children who suffered sexual abuse by another child, and that's still something that we're not ok with talking about – but we need to be, because we have to deal with it.' Echoing Tony's comments, Simon Bailey, former National Police Chief for Child Protection and Chair of Embrace, tells Metro that child-on-child sexual violence has increased greatly over the last three years. In 2022, it accounted for 52% of the total number of reported child sex abuse cases. A year on, that figure increased to 55%. 'We should be asking why we are starting to see this become so prevalent. I don't think we have come to terms with the scale of the trauma children are being exposed to through sexual abuse and abuse online,' Simon explains. This is about challenging the logic of austerity. Simon believes that 'not enough' is being done to help the youngest victims of sexual violence recover and says more money needs to be invested in therapeutic services, like the NSPCC, which helps children recover from exposure to these heinous crimes. 'How do we do early preventative work to stop it happening in the first place?' he asks. The question of how to fund therapy to support the youngest victims of sexual abuse is a difficult one. The CSA (Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse) identified only 450 services across the country – the vast majority of them not for profit and most relying on funding from local authorities, government or donations. Meanwhile, government services working to address this issue are overwhelmed. Tony and Susan both worked in local authorities and say the services were exhausted, underfunded and sometimes not properly trained. Tony explains that the 'postcode lottery up and down the country when it comes to services' shows we need more investment in therapeutic services. 'We need to be able to make sure that every child who suffered abuse has access to the right service. But it can also be professionals themselves, not knowing who to turn to as well,' he says. Meanwhile, Susan points out that funding for services to help victims of child sexual violence should not be considered as 'funding', but rather an investment. The 'return' won't be seen right away, she adds, but if you don't invest money in helping young people, in 20 or 30 years time, you end up with an 'expensive addiction service'. 'You'll see the health implications, the social housing implications, crime implications… It all adds up,' Susan says. 'We have seen what investment can do. The five-year-old who couldn't leave her mum's side now can't wait to go to after-school clubs, saying 'Bye, mum!' and running off to join the other children. 'The 13-year-old who was at risk of losing their place in school and their foster placement is now joining the youth participation group, which feeds back directly to parliament. More Trending 'Then there's the 17-year-old who now has a really good relationship with their mum and her sister. At one point, they didn't – now they're making university applications,' Susan smiles. 'When the right service is provided and available, it makes a difference.' For Marienna Pope-Weidemann, to address the true scale of this crisis, we need to 'challenge the logic of austerity'. 'The most frustrating thing is this widespread failure just to call a spade a spade and acknowledge how bad things are and how much really needs to change,' she says. 'If Gaia had lived, I think she would have gone on to be a really powerful advocate for other young people like her and fight to get those services back and get them working for the community.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Boy dies after being 'left in hot car by child services driver shopping for tobacco' MORE: Boy guilty of 'pointless' murder after stabbing victim, 18, through the heart MORE: More than 5,000,000 victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking in the UK

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store