The Metropolitan Police have been told to make a high-profile public apology to the families caught up in last year’s antiterrorism raid in Forest Gate, East London, in which an innocent man was shot.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) ruled yesterday that officers had employed “very aggressive tactics” during the botched operation, and disclosed that at least three allegations of assault by police had been criminally investigated.

Although it accepted that police had no choice but to act on intelligence that an explosive device was being kept in one of the two houses raided, the commission also criticised police for failing to plan for the possibility that the intelligence could be wrong; taking people not arrested at the scene to a police station; and failing to change their response once it became clear that there had been an intelligence failure.

Police arrested only two men, Abul Koyair and his brother, Abul Kahar, who was shot in the shoulder, but released them a week later without charge.

“These families were victims of failed intelligence. I am not saying officers should be disciplined for that but it is grounds for an apology,” said Deborah Glass, the IPCC commissioner.

“I’ve concluded that the police were right to take no chances with public safety. But they were wrong not to have planned better for the intelligence being wrong.”

The commission has spent months investigating more than 150 complaints from 11 members of the families affected by the raid on June 2.

“Many of the complaints could have been avoided if the families had been treated with more care and compassion at the outset,” the commission said in its report.

“The police must recognise the impact of high-profile operations such as Forest Gate on individuals who as a result of an operation are publicly branded as terrorists or associating with terrorists, but are not in fact charged with any offence . . . If police do not find an explosive device, this does not mean they were wrong to have launched the raid. But it may well be grounds for an equally high-profile public apology.”

The commission has upheld only a few of the complaints, one of which – that police neglected to provide proper medication and meals for Mr Kahar while he was at Paddington Green station, West London – has resulted in an officer being given a written warning. The Crown Prosecution Service decided that there was not enough evidence to prosecute officers over the three allegations of assault – from each of the brothers arrested and their neighbour, who claims that he was hit on the head.

The Metropolitan Police said that it was glad an independent body had concluded that its actions at Forest Gate were proportionate, necessary and motivated by public safety.

Alf Hitchcock, the deputy assistant commissioner, said that he was happy to reiterate the three apologies the force had made, but he insisted: “We need to move on from repeating our apologies over and over again and need to learn the lessons around community engagement.”

Tony Blair backed the police over their actions, saying: “I hope everybody understands that in doing that job they were faced with a difficult choice. Sometimes they were damned if they do and damned if they don’t. If they take strong action they are liable to be criticised. Equally if they failed to take strong action after receiving advice they could be attacked even more strongly.”

However, Mr Kahar said that the commission’s report was a whitewash. “At the end of the day, a lot of people understand we were innocent families, we were not what they said we were. We have still not had an apology. We are not terrorists, we are not a violent family.”

The Kalams, another family caught up in the raid, said that the commission’s recommendation for a public apology was eight months too late. “We each raised many complaints about our brutal treatment at the hands of the police with the IPCC, yet unbelievably no action is to be taken.”

During the raid 15 officers, armed with machineguns and pistols and dressed in three layers of protective clothing, burst into two houses on Lansdowne Road at about 4am looking for a remote-controlled chemical bomb.

The 11 occupants of the houses, including a baby, were shaken from their beds and Mr Kahar was shot at close range in the shoulder. A separate IPCC inquiry found that Mr Kahar had been shot by accident as he tussled with an armed officer who he believed was a robber.

Police found no evidence of a bomb or that the brothers were involved in any terror-related activities.

The rap sheet

The main findings of the IPCC inquiry:

— Police must plan for the possibility that intelligence in antiterror operations could be wrong

— Police should publicly explain the process by which they evaluate and act on intelligence

— Consider placing the word “police” more prominently on officers’ clothing

— Upgrade or relocate cell block at Paddington Green police station

— A high-profile public apology to the families affected by raid

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