If Blair had any integrity of course he would resign, but only after sacking those responsible for this murder and the subsequent campaign of misinformation.

So who really expects this to happen ?
Honestly ?

Is the answer "No-one" ?

Paul Chenery, London,

To the gentleman who mentioned the American police: Wasn't England the Mother Country? I wouldn't think so based on that comment. And to add to it: How American you've become. And to those who side with the Met: You belong in Bush's cabinet. Make your own laws. Putin can still learn from you.

An Englishman in America, Miami, Florida USA,

How ridiculous that we should be forced to pay. The public. Also as a Londoner the illegal immigrants are running amok. When you are challenge by police anywhere in the world you stop or you have something to hide. Armed police responded in the only way they were trained to do. On top of that he runs in mid summer in a puffy jacket onto a train in a last ditch effort or as it appeared at the time to take more Londoners lives. If he had been a bomber we would have shouted their( police) praises. If you run from Police in Brazil they would have shot him down as quick if not quicker.

Roger, London, UK

if Blair were a decent person he would have resigned months ago.

Stanley, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

this was a mistake and in the context of the time it was an under-standable mistake ( suicide bombers exploding bombs in london) but blair should go because of his past record: londoners can feel safe to leave their doors open at night, etc.
this man does not live in the real world but the world of nu-labour and political correction which bears no semblance to reality.

james, doncaster, england

Do NOT RESIGN Ian Blair. That would simply be a coup for the terrorists. Its a very difficult job and the public accepts some mistakes may happen.

Kevin Murphy, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Thank God we have brave policemen who are prepared to sacrifice their own lives to protect the rest of us.

Kevin Murphy, Birmingham, United Kingdom

No Blair should not resign. We our at war with terrorists. This is not an exact science and mistakes will be made. If the Police had shot a bomber that day we would be praising Blair. A decision had to be made in a second. Don't hand these terrorists such prizes as resignations. A mistake has been admitted and £750,000 paid to the family which is a lot of money in Brazil. We now move on and protect this country from people who want to blow up your wife, your husband and your children.

Kevin Murphy, Birmingham, United Kingdom

I was on the side of the Police, believing that they had to make harsh decisions under extreme circumstances but not now that the details have emerged. This was cold blooded murder and the police officers responsible should be put on trial for it instead of hiding behind the all purpose 'fight against terrorism' excuse.

And Blair should go too. The man has no shame.

A former police officer, London,

When this shooting happened, and before it came out that the victim was an innocent man, I remember asking when was it that we as a country had decided that we should kill someone for being only a suspected terrorist.

The answer is that we never did (and still haven't) because faceless officials decided it for us and then didn't bother to tell us. That is what is wrong with Britain today and this killing is simply a symptom.

I'm not saying that the policy is wrong because I don't know all the details but I am saying that making such a policy 'on the quiet' is not how things should be done in a democracy.

If there had been an open debate perhaps the police who were involved at Stockwell would have had a better idea about what they were doing. They shot the man without getting the shoot to kill codeword, dammit! Could it be that even they were unclear about this policy of shoot to kill?

Peter Ryder, Cheshire, UK

Three questions:

1. If the court specifically exonerated Ms Dick, who is not exactly a junior officer under guidance, on what (just) grounds do the opposition parties call for her boss to lose his job?

2. What sense can there be in any government-funded body being fined -- the fine goes to the government that funds, and is responsible for the conduct of! that body -- and which will, in effect, use the fine to pay the fine? Surely, in such cases, it is meaningful only to deal with individuals?

3. The judge "made clear that the fine would have been much higher if the Met had not been a public body ..." Eh? Run that past us again?... and see (2) above.

That's the three, but ...

4. Can we have a text window that uses more than 6% of the screen? It would be much easier to proof-read.

Gordon Semple, Garstang, UK

1. He was not in the country illegally. He was in the UK perfectly legally. He had gone to Brazil, returning to Europe after Carnaval in the spring, less than 6 months before he was shot. As a Brazilian, he would ordinarily have been given a 6-month visitor's visa had he flown directly, and would have been in the country perfectly legally (unless he was rejected at the border, which he obviously wasn't). It was reported at the trial that instead he returned through Ireland after visits to France and Ireland, and entered Britain less than 3 months before he was shot. Again, that entry would make him entirely legally in the country.
2. The Home Office tried to confuse this issue by saying that there was a visa in his passport that was not being used as a stamp at the time it was issued. They most emphatically did not say that it was forged, much less that he was in the country illegally. Even Jack Straw later had to admit that Jean Charles was in the country legally.

Mark, New York, NY

An innocent member of the public is shot dead on public transport and no one is held accountable. The Health and Safety trial while not entirely a joke, was totally inadequate. The truth is not out there yet, and perhaps it never will be. "Who shot Mr. de Menezes?" Answer that question and you are halfway there. Surely this has to be your line in the sand. Forget, "rats leaving the sinking ship." You are not betraying your country; your country has betrayed you.
Britain: Hate it and leave it.

Andrew Milner, Yokohama, Japan

"easy to criticise from an armchair in hindsight, not so easy to make decisions whilst trying to protect 8 million people from suicide bombers in the blink of an eye when 50 people have been killed the day before
steve , moscow,"

I didn't know 50 people were killed on the 21st July 2005 in London.

Daniel Fernandes, Middle England,

This is a tragedy for all involved. I think that people need to understand the chaos and the fear penetrating the country after the July bombings.
It is so sad that a man had to lost his life - it is so sad for the people he left behind to have to deal with the aftermath and the loss.
It must also be very hard for the men who risked their own lives to prevent a bombing, but resulted in killing an innocent man- the intelligence officers who got it wrong, everyone involved will be feeling this for the rest of their lives.
I don't think that Sir Ian should resign, but should learn from this and move forward. Which I am sure he will.
We would have been applauding these people had this been a terrorist.

Amanda, Brisbane, Qld

Shocking, yet not much of a surprise.
We all recall Ian Blair leaping to camera declaring Menezes jumped over barriers wearing a thick padded jacket. Now of course we know all he said was absolute tosh.
Even now after the truth has come out, we all know Ian Blair will be shuffled off to the House of Lords in five years time to 'represent' us all, with a pat on the back.

M Quartermaine, London, UK

Everybody seems to be forgetting the murderous and shocking times the public and the Police were facing at the time of the shooting. The Police were under enourmous pressure to protect us, the public. It is almost a state of war. The Police Officers did what was necessary given the unique set of circumstances. It takes just part of a second to push the button on a bomb. They had no choice but to shoot. Of course Blair should not resign. He is the best person to now pull things in to shape. He should certainly have strong words with some people in the chain who kept him in the dark. These are difficult times and yes mistakes will happen but do not blame those who are protecting us, save your anger for the terrorists who create this situation.

Kevin Murphy, Birmingham, United Kingdom

A travesty. A man is dead due to police incompetence and the only thing to show for it is a pittance of a fine (paid by taxpayers) under legislation designed to protect workers from dodgy employers. Disgraceful.

Matt D, London,

Ms Dick is outraged at questions over her behaviour? How smug and arrogant is this woman? Does she honestly believe that she is so far above the law she doesn't need to answer questions when a man is killed? No wonder this country is in a mess, nobody in any position of authority believes they are accountable to anybody or responsible for anything.

Eric, London,

What a load of old tosh - the police only get pulled up for Health and Safety. What happened, did they forget to put down a yellow cone and cordon off the area for a slippery floor after they shot him? Should they have ensured he wore a hard hat when they shot him in the head? Somebody should be doing time for this poor fellow's murder but one law for them, one law for the rest of us.

This whole thing was covered up from day one, and is just another misdemeanour to add to a long list of the police sweeping their own misgivings under the carpet - Birmingham Six, Guildford 4, Stockwell, where next?

James McQuillan, London, UK

Unbelievable! Guilty for trying to protect Londoners.........

S Siva, London,

What has happened in recent years to honourable behaviour in public life? The question is posed on hearing that Sir Ian Blair does not intend to resign despite the death on his watch of an innocent man and the conviction of the organisation which he leads of endangering public safety.
As Sir Ian appears to have the backing of the government machine for his current stance it would appear that the Press (as so often before) is now the only medium through which a measure of justice can be obtained with regard to the death of an innocent man.

Harold Harrison, Carlisle,

Once again complete chaos from senior police officers as at Hillborough.
As an ex fire officer I have seen at first hand just how little time senior officers devote to training, practicing and preparing for the type of large scale complicated incident where they are expected to take operational command. Apart from courses at their devoted technical colledges they spend almost no time with their colleagues discussing and practising for these rare incidents.
Is it not time that senior operational command should be a job in itself and not just an add on to a senior managerial position?

richard james, london, uk

The Met Police whilst working in difficult circumstances and actually murdered an innocent man who in the daily course of paid the ulitmate price of His Life...Anyonewho is shot 7/8 times in the head is tantamount to murder...therefore if this was Joe Public a life sentence would of been imposed for Cold Blooded murder on what would of been seen as a hineous crime of the worst degree

I arrest my case

Ravi Lola, Lonon,

Cressida Dick made monumental mistakes during this operation, and has since been promoted, Ian Blair covers up for the whole fiasco with NEW LABOUR spin...while a innocent man lies dead with seven bullet holes in his head...problem what problem!!!!!

chris harris, paignton, devon

If this had happened in N Ireland in the 70's or 80's someone would have been court martialled.

Jim, Lincoln,

easy to criticise from an armchair in hindsight, not so easy to make decisions whilst trying to protect 8 million people from suicide bombers in the blink of an eye when 50 people have been killed the day before

steve , moscow,

No doubt ' lessons will be learned and applied'. Well, one is that when something goes badly wrong, no matter how isolated or unusual, then senior people leave

The US Air Force applied the rule recently following a similar ' .. isolated breach brought about by quite extraordinary circumstances" when nuclear warheads on cruise missiles were unintentionally flown across the USA. Several senior officers had their commissions withdrawn as a result.

Stuart, Somerset,

How come as a tax payer I am being fined for this.

If anybody is punished surely it should be the police. If they cannot blame any individual, dock all the police £100 from their pay but don't make me pay for their mistakes.

Taxpayer, London,

How sad to see so many members of the public blindly criticising the police for doing a near impossible job. Are people's memories so poor they forget the extreme tension and stress felt by ordinary Londoners in the days after the horrendous tube bombings, or are unable to imagine the stress felt by the police trying to apprehend in time the bomber who got away? Can they not realise that even the best police are fallable and liable to make mistakes despite the best intentions and training, especially in exceptional circumstances where hundreds of lives are potentially at risk? Yes, on this occasion they made a truly tragic mistake in identification. The police are disappointingly human, just as so many of these narrow-mindedly critical comments are depressingly and blindly human. The real blame lies at the feet of the suicide bombers and their ignorant, intolerant supporters.

Russell, London, UK

You have to look at this against the background where terrorists were killing scores of people.

The police had avery difficult call to make. If they had been right and he was a terrorist they would have been heroes.

Now that they had been successfully prosecuted for this what will happen the next time? A terrorist may get through.

John, Notting Hill,

Despite all the comments saying how wrong the police were is everybody conveniently forgetting there was a hightened security status at the time and Mr de Menezes refused to stop when challenged. Why was he guilty of something? Well i do beleive he was because hasn't it been cleverly forgotten that his visa had expired and he probably thought he was going to be deported. Harsh as it may sound this I belive is the fact of the matter that has been overloooked. Surely it's more a case of in the wrong place at the wrong time. I fully support the police and the actions they took and appluad the Firearms Officers wife who bravely posted her message.

tim egerton, bolton, lancashire

It is tragic that an innocent man was killed but may I remind people that in America police always carry firearms and often shoot people and do they get taken to court??

R.J, UK,

It is sad the JCdM died.
Next time it happens and I would suggest another atrocity campaign is being planned somewhere as I type.

People will die, the Police will then no doubt be charged with neglect of duty in that they did not act.

Firearms officers across the UK must now all be wondering about their firearms authorities.

I wouldn't blame any of them as they are all volunteers if they downed tools. I expect though that tomorrow duty will call and they will all be back. to work.

Policing and the hoops they need to go through today are hardly worth it, the majority of Public views expressed here are the measure of how the public value you. They don't seem to give a monkeys about much.

You must all be considering is all really worth it?

Well for my Council Tax yes it is.

S Cartwright, E Yorks,

To those that claim that the police should have the right to shoot a "suspect" based on "hunches" or "suspicious" behaviour, three little words...

DEAD MAN's SWITCH!

Don't know what it is?, i give one clue, you've got one of those in your fridge.

john, london,

This trial process was nothing more than a compromise whereby a criminal prosecution for manslaughter was not pursued by the Crown Prosecution Service for lame reasons and a prosecution under the Health & Safety Act was preferred. The sanctions that could be imposed were limited and it was never going to be a case whereby any individuals could be held responsible for their failings.

AH, Bham,

Those responsible for Mr Charles de Menezes murder have been promoted so why should the Met Chief resign?

r.allely, Cardiff, Wales

Right, thats the first trial out of the way. What about the manslaughter trial and resignation of the Commissioner, or has he glued himself to his seat to wait for his "bonus"?

Neil, Gloucestershire, England

NO, Blair should not resign, he should be TERMINATED FOR CAUSE and lose all pensions and privileges that are associated with this position, along with the officer in charge of the operation, Dick.

Tom, Las Pesqueras, Spain

What an embarrassment to the city of London. During WWII, no one sank to the level of shooting suspects. There are law enforcement procedures and judicial procedures that could have been employed in this case. The fiasco occurred because an old agent was drunk when he should have been watching the apartment.
The victim had no guilt, by association or in behavior. But his language skills were limited. If we start shooting anyone who doesn't speak the King's English, the bodies will pile up quickly, indeed.
We have yet to get an honest and full account of the incident.

Robert Barry, Hamden, Ct.

This shooting was totally and utterly shameful on the part of our police. From that day I do not trust our police, for they could as easily shoot me- Look at the poor man lying on the floor of the tube- dressed in light clothing and followed all that way alone before being murdered with seven shots on a tube train ..it could happen to any of us if it can happen to him.....

Totally disgraceful and so un- British

I will always feel unsafe when I see a policeman with a gun now. They obviously panicked...seven shots my God- it is so inhuman I can't believe it is in my own country

Anna, London, UK

Frightening that, as one commenter has noted and all comments somehow indirectly ask, 'Was this inquiry's aim to ensure all statements coming out of the courtroom, involved a 'passive' responsibility by some nameless community for Mr. De Menzes death?' ( "Err, don't mention the Met.")

Perhaps if we consider that 'the job', for which I'm sure Mr. Blair and Ms. Dicks are paid amply well, of presiding over infiltration of terrorist groups needs incredibly skilled personnel who can PLAN METICULOUSLY and ANTICIPATE every aspect of the compatibility of the manoeuvres and of the type of communication technology chosen in high-status operations ((ie. does this equipment work 20m. underground to a walie-talkie?)

If they're not capable of these aspects of their jobs, then they should be working alongside people who are far better equipped.
Personally, I fear for the public's safety under the integrity of Blair and Dicks.

Julie , lancashire, UK.

To the Firearms Officers - read these comments and learn.
The public are not worth your tears (to the firearms officer) or your bravery in pursuit of someone thought to be a danger to the public. Let this verdict serve as a warning. Your attempts to weigh up whether or not to shoot and your final decision were not worth the risks to yourselves either. In future the best course of action will be, (and there will be more of these situations) to let the person blow themselves up and hopefully take everyone with them. We all know that your decision could well have been the right one but again i stress - read the comments. Worth your own grief? The public cannot seperate ordinary bobbies from those of you doing your damndest, mostly without fault, to protect them. The public are not worth your deliberations, concern, and split second decisions or heartache in the end. The public know all about unprecedented situations and split second situations of course. Theyre experts?

Firearms Officers Wife, London,

Nice to see that concepts like honour, integrity and responsibility are not dead in the Metropolitan Police - NOT!

Sir Ian, haven't you got it yet? You were charged under health and safety legislation because it was obvious that normal processes of law couldn't touch you, just as Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion rather than murder. If you stay you make the law an ass. Time to set aside your personal interest and consider the effect on the few remaining honourable bobbies on the street of seeing their boss employing politician's sophistry to hang on in an indefensible position. THE POLICE UNDER YOUR COMMAND KILLED AN INNOCENT MAN - WITH SEVEN DUM-DUM ROUNDS AT CLOSE RANGE! If no-one is to carry responsibility, if not the individual officers then you on their behalf, then we no longer have a police force or a system of justice worth having.

EB, Slough,

Well done HSE, you have utterly shafted any possible capacity from our Nations Police Service's Nationwide to deal with the ongoing extended,fast changing complex manouverings involved with unanounced terrorist attacks in this country.
You have done the impossible !!!!!. You have castrated our last line of defence!!!!!. In the old days we at least had prior warning from p.i.r.a that they were going to explode a device.
What have we got now ?. No prior warning...no prior intel... and despite the UK's populace having the record of being the most spied upon Nation on Earth these terrorists get through and assault us. We regret the tragedy of Stockwell, our hearts go out to the mans family. In my opinion the next time round, you the HSE stand a very high chance of being prosecuted for imposing rules,risk assessments,method statements etc, / regulations that have resulted in the slaughter of our citizens. If the Police do not have our Licence to act on our behalf we dont deserve the HSE

Denis Tighe, Glenrothes, UK

This incident is the most blatant example of police incompetence that is ever likely to be acheived anywhere.
Just how so many people with so much power and resources behind them contrived to make such a complete and utter arse of a straightforward operation will never be explained

david harris, edinburgh, scotland

"The verdict is likely, however, to renew speculation as to the future of Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who was in court to hear the guilty verdict. Sir Ian has come under fire over the fact that he was not promptly told that an innocent man had been shot."

But I would bet my house that Mr Blair's Job & Bonus are safe and Secure

My biggest problem with this whole thing is that the 'Self Preservation' machine kicked in so quick that the Met did not even consider that a Simple " WE MADE A MISTAKE !! SORRY" would have ended this fiasco a long time ago.

Instead we get all sorts of silly speculation designed to taint the image of the Victim and steer the public away from wondering why on earth you would let a "suspected Suicide Bomber" board a Bus and then an Underground Train within hours of previous Bus & Underground bombings.

I dont expect the Met to get everything right and i suspect most of the UK public dont either, What i do expect is for them to Own Up wh

Obi Mgbatogu, London, UK

I dont expect the Met to get everything right and i am sure the UK public dont either, But i do expect them to Own Up when they get something wrong and not just go into denial about everything and even go into attack mode.

ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY

There is a growing unease with the level of power the UK Central Gov and its Police State Practices thinks it wields over the Populace.

Obi Mgbatogu, London, UK

I have read that Mr De Menzies was in Britain illegally. Is this true? If so, it is sad that one crime has led to another by accident.

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

It is encouraging that the Health and Safety Commission are concerned about the deaths of innocent people when proper procedures are not followed. Does this also apply to avoidable deaths from infections contracted in the NHS? If so, who prosecutes the Health and Safety Commission when their procedures are at fault?

TG, Newark,

It is not the guilty verdict that will have "profound" impact on policing throughout the UK, as Sir Ian would have us believe. The shooting of an innocent man will take care of that. And hopefully so.

PS: Times: There's one zero too many in the second sentence of the article.

Pavel, London,

What does this mean? Metropolitan Police is guilty but not the individuals, where alians to blame.

The problems is in such situation, where police officer wrongly killed someone. The Metropolitan Police is always be found because for the jury/judge it’s a win win verdict, individual are not found guilty, but a faceless body.

This is why the guilty verdict is worthless and part of the therapeutic culture of today.

Pete, London, UK

Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot seven times by specialist firearms officers who followed him into the South London station on July 22, 20005.

So thats what some 20k years in the futur?

Mr W B jones, Liverpool,

The jury must be enjoying themselves, with this double PC shot: protecting minorities and taking care not to hurt the fairest sex. All we have got is a number of hundreds of thousands of pounds paid to the Latino's relatives by British taxpayers, with no one particularly responsible for the alleged police error. A 'fair' lesson in civics, indeed.

Stelian Dumitrascu, Newark NJ, U.S.

Excellent ! The fact that he had taken cocaine and had a forged stamp on his passport are completely irrelevant . Neither of these offences have ever warranted multiple gun shots to the head .
Now if we can ban the welsh policeman from driving as he should be , perhaps we can return to having a decent police force who not only know how to enforce the law but how to abide by it as well .
Blair should have been sacked months ago .

Benzo, Nr Chelmsford,

Doctoring photographs just show how the police thinks of itself being above the law. This is unbelivable insane and should be looked into. Justice! Finally!!! For an innocent man who was brutally executed. Shame on the police force.

leonardo rezende, New York City, USA

This is totally the right verdict. Not only did they kill an innocent man, they allowed someone they "thought was a suicide bomber" to get on two buses, thus endangering the rest of us. If he truly was acting like a bomber, why did they let him get on those buses in the first place?

Liz, London,

Would he of run or behaved the same if he had been here legally?

Maybe procedures have to be improved however the brave officers who would of most likely been killed in a blast must not be prevented from fulfilling there courageous duty.

Andy, London,

Blair should reason immediately. The guy is a total waste of space at the Met the same as he was when he was based at Surrey Police. The man just comes up with excuse after excuse and is not fit to hold office.

Patrick, Guildford, Surrey

Ian Blain to resign?

Nahh, that's not New Labour's way at all. He'll want to stay 'to put things right'.

MarkS, Leeds,