SENIOR Scotland Yard commanders voiced fears that police may have blundered within hours of the death of Jean Charles de Menezes.

But, according to police sources, the warnings were not heeded in the confusion and panic, and Scotland Yard publicly maintained for nearly 24 hours that he was linked to terror groups.

Fresh details of the blunders surrounding the death of Mr de Menezes emerged yesterday as the family of the Brazilian electrician arrived in Britain to visit Stockwell Underground station, where he died, and to see the team that is investigating the death.

Mr de Menezes was shot on July 22 in the first use of the police shoot-to-kill policy to deal with suspected suicide bombers. But within the Yard up to four officers announced their concerns as it became clear that Mr de Menezes was not carrying a bomb or a weapon and that he had identity papers on him. The warnings were missed and Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, publicly said that Mr de Menezes had been challenged and was shot after refusing to obey police orders.

Scotland Yard said in a statement that his clothing and behaviour added to the suspicions of surveillance officers at the station.

Police later said that he had been followed from an address that police were watching and acknowledged that he was not one of the four bombers being hunted for the July 21 attacks on the London transport system. He was, nonetheless, a terror suspect. Overnight the Yard concluded that Mr de Menezes was innocent. Sir Ian said that he was told the next morning and Scotland Yard admitted its mistake.

Yesterday the dead man’s parents, Matuzinhos Otone da Silva and Maria Otone de Menezes, Jean Charles’s brother, Giovani da Silva, together with his family, Iranildes, his wife, and three children, arrived in London on a visit funded by the Metropolitan Police.

Mrs de Menezes said: “We are searching for justice. I want the police to be punished.”

The family hope to meet senior Scotland Yard figures. They will meet the team of investigators from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) tomorrow.

Questions about the shoot-to-kill policy, which Scotland Yard is calling the shoot-to-kill-to-protect policy, will also be raised tomorrow at a meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Nick Hardwick, the chairman of the IPCC, said: “I am extremely concerned at recent reports about this case and would urge everybody to stop. This drip-drip of information is unhelpful. It is important we have a fair and thorough process leading to the truth . . . the leaks and speculation must end.”

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