The Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Ian Blair is under severe pressure to resign after a court found the police force guilty of violating health and safety legislation in the shooting of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in July 2005.
The November 3 British Guardian reported that on November 1 the police had been fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £385,000 costs after a jury convicted it of exposing the public to risk when de Menezes was shot seven times in the head by armed police at the Stockwell train station in London. The police claimed that he was mistaken for a suicide bomber.
Blair's position became even more untenable on November 8 when the Independent Police Complaints Commission issued a damning report on police conduct at the shooting and in its aftermath. According to the Guardian on November 9, IPCC chairperson Nick Hardwick stated that Blair was guilty of trying to prevent an IPCC investigation into the death. The Guardian also reported that Blair's attempt to block the IPCC investigation had "allowed an attempt by at least one officer to tamper with evidence in an attempted cover-up".
The police have claimed that when armed officers approached de Menezes after he boarded an underground train at Stockwell station, they warned him by shouting "armed police" and then shot him as he advanced towards them. The IPCC report threw doubt on this claim and noted that it "may be of significance" that none of the 17 civilian passengers on the train at the time has any recollection of such a warning. In the aftermath of the shooting the police also claimed that de Menezes was wearing a bulky jacket, but this turned out to be false.
The November 9 Morning Star reported that despite the court verdict and the IPCC report, Blair has stated that he intends to remain in his post. The Star quoted Vivian Figuerido, de Menezes's cousin, as saying that Blair's position is "untenable".
However, she said that whether or not he resigns "does not deflect from the issues of why Jean was killed, why he was shot seven times in the head, why a shoot-to-kill policy was used and why the police did everything they could to cover up the crime. No-one has been held responsible for shooting Jean seven times in the head and then lying to us and the public. We demand action be taken to hold police officers to account and will not draw a line under this issue until that has been achieved."
The de Menezes family is planning to take its case to the European Court of Human Rights. The official police force watchdog, the Metropolitan Police Authority, will meet on November 22 to consider Blair's future. Although they have the power to express a vote of no confidence — a move that could trigger Sir Ian's resignation — Blair has the support of the home secretary and prime minister, and a vote of no confidence is unlikely.