Jacob's Politics

Who should resign?

Today's Independent carries the story Tube Shooting: who really said what and who was to blame

One witness, Mark Whitby, told BBC News he had seen Jean Charles - whom he described as an "Asian guy" - being pursued on to the train by armed officers. He had been sitting in the carriage, and saw the incident at close quarters. "As the man got on the train I looked at his face. He looked from left to right, but he basically looked like a cornered rabbit, like a cornered fox.

"He looked absolutely petrified. He sort of tripped but they were hotly pursuing him and couldn't have been more than two or three feet behind him at this time.

"He half-tripped, was half-pushed to the floor. The policeman nearest to me had the black automatic pistol in his left hand, he held it down to the guy and unloaded five shots into him.

"He looked like a Pakistani but he had a baseball cap on, and quite a thickish coat.

This was total fabrication - Why?

What police said - and what really happened

The police claim: A man of "Asian appearance", behaving suspiciously, is shot dead by police on a Tube train in Stockwell.

The truth: The dead man, Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was Brazilian.

The police claim: His shooting was "directly linked" to the investigation into the London bombings.

The truth: Mr de Menezes was an electrician and had nothing to do with the London bombings.

The police claim: Witnesses described him running into the Tube station, vaulting the barriers.

The truth: He walked into the station and picked up a free newspaper before entering with a travel pass. He made his way to the platform. He started to run only when the train arrived.

The police claim: Witnesses said he was wearing an "unseasonable" heavy coat, and Scotland Yard said his clothing had "added to suspicions".

The truth: Photographs of the body show Mr de Menezes wearing a blue denim jacket.

The police claim: "As I understand the situation the man was challenged and refused to obey police instructions" - Sir Ian Blair.

The truth: There was no police challenge.

The police claim: Mr de Menezes ran on to the Tube train, tripped and was shot five times by police as he lay on the floor.

The truth: CCTV footage is said to show Mr de Menezes pausing, looking left and right, and sitting on a seat facing the platform. A police witness says Mr de Menezes stood up when the police arrived. The policeman then pinned his arms to his sides and pushed him back in the seat. Mr de Menezes was then shot 10 times - three of the bullets missed

These "facts" were contained in a story filed on 23rd July 2005 in The Telegraph Bomb suspect gunned down on Tube after frantic chase with armed police, by James Burleigh, and Ben Fenton

The man, who several witnesses said was wearing an unseasonably warm overcoat or jacket, was walking towards Stockwell Tube station at the corner of Clapham Road and Lambeth Road.

One witness suggested that as the man neared Stockwell station, he became aware that he was being followed, ......

In any case, the pace of events accelerated from this point. Chris Wells, a 28-year-old company manager, said he was travelling on the Victoria line towards Vauxhall when he left the train at Stockwell.

He saw about 20 police officers, some of them armed, rushing into the station.

He said: "There were at least 20 of them [officers] and they were carrying big black guns.

"The next thing I saw was this guy jump over the barriers and the police officers were chasing after him and everyone was just shouting 'get out, get out'." Several other witnesses reported seeing the man jump over the ticket barriers and being chased by three men in plain clothes but carrying guns.

They said the fugitive ran down the escalator from the ticket hall to the Northern line, the deeper of two lines that run through Stockwell, the other being the Victoria line.

There were plenty of witnesses to what happened next, but, as often happens in situations of extreme stress, the precise order of events is not certain.

The most eloquent testimony came from Mark Whitby, 47, a water installation engineer from Brixton, who was sitting on the Tube train reading a newspaper while it was stationary with its doors open.

He said: "I heard people shouting 'get down, get down'. An Asian guy ran on to the train and I looked at his face. He looked from left to right, but he basically looked like a cornered rabbit - he was absolutely petrified."

He added: "The man half tripped and was then pushed to the floor by three plain-clothes police officers who were pursuing him.

"One of the police officers was holding a black automatic pistol in his left hand.

"He held it down to him and unloaded five shots into him. I saw it all. He was dead, five shots. I was literally less than five yards away."

Another passenger, Rob Lowe, 33, from Balham, south London, saw the incident from another viewpoint in the carriage.

"The Tube was stationary and then a man came on who I presume now to be a plain clothes policeman, but at the time I didn't know who he was," he said.

"He was looking quite shifty, getting up and sitting back down again. I felt a bit awkward around him.

Mr Whitby said the dead man, who was fairly large and well-built, had a baseball cap on and "quite a thickish coat, a sort of padded jacket".

"He looked out of place. It is hot, humid weather, but I didn't see him carrying anything."

When people fabricate things there can be no precise order!!

Both Tony Blair and Sir Ian Blair should resign be tried as accessories to MURDER.

posted by Jacob Matthan @ 07:30