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Relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes called today for the resignation or sacking of the UK's most senior anti-terrorist policeman after a watchdog reported that he "chose to mislead the public" over events surrounding the Brazilian's death at Stockwell underground station two years ago.

The report from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) contains damning criticism of Scotland Yard's high command but singles out Assistant Commisioner Andy Hayman for especial censure and recommends disciplinary action against him.

The report is the second by the IPCC into the events surrounding the shooting dead of Mr de Menezes, 27, a Brazilian electrician, at Stockwell tube station on July 22 2005, the day after a string of failed suicide bombings in London.

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It claims that Mr Hayman, the head of counter-terrorism and intelligence at Scotland Yard, briefed reporters on the afternoon of July 22 that the man shot that morning was not one of the four suicide bombers being hunted by police.

But he is said to have failed to pass that information on at a meeting of senior officers and Home Office officials just 30 minutes later and even helped draft a press release a short while later which stated that it was "not yet clear" if the dead man was one of the four wanted bombers.

The 134-page document paints a picture of chaos in the upper ranks of the Metropolitan Police, with no-one prepared to break the news to Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner, that officers had shot dead an innocent man.

Reacting to the report, Mr de Menezes's cousin, Alessandro Pereira, said that Mr Hayman's position was "untenable" given the report's finding that he "lied deliberately about Jean". "Action must now be taken," he added. Another cousin told a press conference that police officers had "been allowed to get away with murder".

Mr Pereira was equally scathing about Sir Ian, saying that he found "unbelievable" that he had not known until the next day that the wrong man had been shot.

"If he knew, he lied. If he did not, he was not in control of his office," he said. "How can anyone have confidence in him?"

The IPCC says that Mr Hayman's actions were a cause of "serious concern" and it recommends that the Metropolitan Police Authority should take disciplinary action against him.

The report states: "Why Mr Hayman chose to tell the Crime Reporters Association [CRA] and therefore the public that the deceased was not one of the four wanted bombers, and then withhold that information from the Commissioner and others, is not known.

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