Britain’s most senior policeman was criticised for his lack of knowledge when an innocent man was shot dead by officers on the London Underground.

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, faced the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) for the first time since a report concluded that he was kept in the dark for 24 hours about the shooting of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station. Richard Barnes, an MPA member, said he was “distressed” that Britain’s top policeman lacked “an inquiring mind” in the hours after Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot, mistaken for a suicide bomber a day after attempted suicide bombings in London and a fortnight after the July 7 attacks.

Off-duty officers and secretaries knew within hours that the wrong man had been shot, but Sir Ian was not told until the next day.

He said: “We got it appallingly wrong but we are not guilty of complete idiocy. My feeling is that if this happened again, the information would flow very differently.”

Factfile: revelations from the de Menezes trial

Information about the police killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, on July 22, 2005, that has emerged during the trial

Multimedia

• Pictures: Jean Charles de Menezes

BACKGROUND

• Ian Blair survives no confidence vote

• Timeline: how de Menezes identity emerged

• Come quietly, Sir Ian – you’re banged to rights

• ‘It is my task to ensure that lessons are learnt’

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Britain’s most senior policeman was fiercely criticised for his performance on the day that his officers shot an innocent man dead on the London Underground.

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, yesterday faced his force’s governing authority for the first time since a report concluded that he was kept in the dark for 24 hours about the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station.

Members of the Metropolitan Police Authority queued up to attack Sir Ian and question his leadership qualities in the wake of the Stockwell Two report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Richard Barnes, a Conservative member of the authority, said that he was distressed that Britain’s top policeman lacked “an inquiring mind” in the crucial hours after Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot.

The Brazilian electrician was shot eight times when he was mistaken for a suicide bomber on July 22, 2005.

Mr Barnes said: “There are such major questions within this that I have really deep-seated concerns about the leadership of the Metropolitan Police.”

The shooting took place a day after a series of attempted suicide bombings on London’s transport system and just a fortnight after the July 7 attacks in which 52 people were murdered.

A series of internal and external communication failings meant that wrong information issued by Scotland Yard about Mr de Menezes was not corrected.

Off-duty officers and secretaries were aware that the wrong man had been shot within hours, but Sir Ian was not told by senior officers of the mistake until the next day.

Sir Ian told the authority that the events of that summer were unique and placed immense pressure on the police.

“The situation that the Met faced on that day was, as far as we know, unprecedented anywhere in the Western world,” he told the meeting. “There had been no situation where a suicide bomber had been on the run.”

But Peter Herbert, an independent member of the authority, questioned Sir Ian’s defence and asked the commissioner if he would resign. “Every time I hear that it was unprecedented I get slightly more cynical,” Mr Herbert said.

“It was not unique, everyone knew this would happen after Madrid. This was foreseeable and that is what you are there for.”

Mr Herbert said that Londoners found it incredible that Sir Ian had gone home on the evening of the shooting without knowing all the information.

Sir Ian, however, replied: “We got it appallingly wrong but we are not guilty of complete idiocy. My feeling is that if this happened again, the information would flow very differently.”

The Commissioner insisted that he would not resign over the matter, and said he hoped that the public would judge his performance over his entire period in office. Sir Ian said: “My understanding is that the public put July 22 and 23 and the arrests eight days later as a sequence. This was the matter that damaged public confidence in the police force and in some way I am part of that.”

He said that he wished his officers and aides had kept him better informed but that his leadership style was to accept responsibility and not to blame others for the mistakes made.

Scotland Yard faces a trial under health and safety legislation next month over the shooting of Mr de Menezes.

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