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UK > 7 July 2005 attacks

Jas
The Daily Telegraph
19.8.2005
There was no cover-up, says Met chief
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
(Filed: 19/08/2005)
Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, last night denied that
Scotland Yard tried to cover up the botched operation that led to the shooting
of an innocent man on the London Underground last month.
As controversy raged over claims that he resisted attempts to set up an
independent investigation into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the
Brazilian electrician shot seven times in the head by armed anti-terror
officers, Sir Ian said the allegations "strike to the heart of the integrity" of
his force. He added: "I fundamentally reject them. There is no cover-up. I am
not going to resign. I have a job to do."
Tributes to Mr de Menezes outside Stockwell
station
However, lawyers representing Mr de Menezes's family said there was a "fatal
delay" in starting the official investigation and the Independent Police
Complaints Commission said the Met had "initially resisted" handing over the
inquiry. One member of the agency said the resulting delay was "shocking".
Sir Ian rejected any suggestion that there was a deliberate attempt to stop the
truth coming out. Before it was known that Mr de Menezes was the victim, he
wrote to Sir John Gieve, permanent secretary at the Home Office, asking for a
review of its statutory duty to hand over the inquiry to the IPCC for fear that
it might jeopardise the counter-terrorist operation.
Scotland Yard said that when the request was made on the day of the shooting,
Sir Ian and other senior officers were still under the impression that a man
linked to the London bomb attempts on July 21 had been killed.
Sir Ian Blair: 'I am not going to resign'
''I and everyone who advised me believed that the man we had shot was a suicide
bomber and therefore one of the four people we were looking for, or someone
else. It seemed utterly vital that the counter-terrorism investigation took
precedence, the forensics, the ballistics,'' Sir Ian said. "I'm not defending
myself against making a mistake or being wrong, but I am defending myself
against an allegation that I did not act in good faith and I reject utterly the
concept of a cover-up. If you were going to define how to do a cover-up you
would not write a letter to the permanent secretary of the Home Office, copying
it to the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority and the chairman of the
IPCC.''
After conversations with the Home Office, it was agreed that the investigation
would be handed over to the IPCC on the following Monday but the commission did
not start its work until July 27.
Yesterday the IPCC said: "The Metropolitan Police Service initially resisted us
taking on the investigation but we overcame that. It was an important victory
for our independence. This dispute has caused delay in us taking over the
investigation but we have worked hard to recover the lost ground.''
Tony Murphy, an independent member of the IPCC advisory group, said: ''In any
investigation into a death, any evidence collected during the golden hours is
crucial . . . The idea of the police not contacting the watchdog in such
controversial circumstances is shocking.''
Gareth Peirce, one of the lawyers for the family, called for a public inquiry to
sort out the "chaotic mess". She said: "A public inquiry is the only kind of
inquiry that can deal effectively with the big policy issues brought up in this
case."
Ken Livingstone, London's mayor, leapt to
Sir Ian's defence and praised him for leading the Met through its "most
difficult challenge" after the capital's worst terrorist atrocity. "The police
have done a brilliant job in tracking down those responsible for the bombings
and in reassuring Londoners going about their daily lives," Mr Livingstone said.
pjohnston@telegraph.co.uk
There was no cover-up, says Met chief, By
Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor, DT, (Filed: 19/08/2005)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/19/nmenez19.xml
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