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Maria Otone de Menezes said, in a message sent from Brazil, “I am very happy with the verdict. Since the moment the coroner ruled out unlawful killing, I was feeling very sad. But today I feel reborn.”

A spokesman for the Justice4Jean campaign group called on the Crown Prosecution Service, the Metropolitan Police and the Independent Police Complaints Commission to re-open their investigations into the shooting in the light of evidence heard during the inquest.

“The jury have come back with a damning critique of the police and its failures,” a spokesman said. “The jury clearly said that the police lied. . . It is clear that if they were given the option of an unlawful killing verdict they would have reached an unlawful killing verdict.”

The majority verdict of 8-2 came at the end of seven days of deliberations by the jurors, whose number was reduced from 11 to 10 earlier this week.

The inquest, held at the Oval Cricket Ground, south London, has lasted for 12 weeks and is estimated to have cost around £6million in court costs and legal fees. It heard evidence for the first time from the two armed officers who shot Mr de Menezes, 27, a Brazilian electrician.

They fired nine shots, hitting Mr de Menezes in the head seven times, after mistaking him for a suicide bomber on July 22 2005 - the day after four terrorists failed to set off suicide bombs in London then went on the run.

The officers, identified only as Charlie 12 and Charlie 2, said they had shouted "armed police" as the ran onto the Northern Line train at Stockwell, south London, and that Mr de Menezes had stood up and moved towards them aggressively. They claimed his reaction led them to shoot him because they feared he was about to detonate a bomb.

But passengers on the train said they did not hear warning shouts and did not see Mr de Menezes leave his seat. One woman claimed that the policemen appeared to be "out of control".

During the evidence, the court heard that surveillance officers deployed to search for Hussain Osman, one of the fugitive bombers, did not have a picture of the man they were looking for. Mr de Menezes was thought to be a likeness for Osman but never positively identified as the terrorist before he was shot.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, who was Gold Command officer in charge of the operation, told the hearing that she did not believe any officer had done anything wrong or unreasonable. She also said she feared that a similar incident could happen again.

Last year, an Old Bailey jury found the Metropolitan Police guilty of breaching health and safety law in the operation which led to Mr de Menezes's death. The force was fined £175,000.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, claimed this afternoon that the details of the inquest had reinforced the difficulty of the task facing the police.

“The death of Jean Charles de Menezes was a profoundly shocking tragedy and the de Menezes family have my deepest sympathy,” she said.

“What we have learnt from the accounts of the tragic events that day reminds us all of the extremely demanding circumstances under which the police work to protect us from further terrorist attack.”

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