Sir Ian Blair vowed yesterday to stay on as Britain's top police officer, despite sustained calls for his resignation, after his force was found guilty of "catastrophic" failings that led to the shooting dead of Jean Charles de Menezes.An Old Bailey jury found the Metropolitan police guilty of breaking health and safety law in July 2005 when De Menezes was killed after being mistaken for a suicide bomber. Fining the force £175,000 and ordering it to pay £385,000 in costs, judge Mr Justice Henriques called on the force to learn lessons.
The unprecedented trial came after prosecutors said no individual officer could be held responsible for the electrician's death, but that the force should be tried for failing to protect the public from risk.
At the heart of the trial was the Met's failure to follow its own plan on the morning of July 22 2005, thereby placing the public at risk. The force was hunting suicide bombers who had launched failed attacks on the capital's transport system the previous day.
Evidence led detectives to a block of flats in south London, and at 5am a senior commander ordered surveillance officers to be posted outside with support from elite firearms officers to stop and question anyone who emerged.
But the firearms officers were not in place for more than four hours, so when De Menezes left the flats he was allowed to travel on two buses and then on to a tube train at Stockwell. It was only there that firearms officers caught up with him and he was shot seven times.
Mr Justice Henriques said a "corporate failure" lay behind the tragedy.
If the strategy had been followed, he said, it "would have prevented any suspect boarding the public transportation system and would ... have avoided this terrible tragedy".The prosecution had outlined 19 separate failures. Sentencing the Met, the judge highlighted particular shortcomings including commanding officers' mistaken belief that surveillance officers following De Menezes had "positively" identified him as a terrorist. The control room at Scotland Yard was noisy, making communications difficult, said the judge, who added that the briefing firearms officers received was inaccurate and "unbalanced".
The furore over the shooting will continue. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is considering the release of a report into the failings within days. A full inquest into the killing will take place next year, and the De Menezes family will also issue civil proceedings.
Has this affected anybody's faith in the Police?
Do you think Sir Ian Blair should resign?
The more that has become known about this case, the more I have been utterly stunned. I would have never believed our police force was such a joke. I can honestly say that I no longer have any faith whatsoever in the UK police anymore.
Do I think Sir Ian Blair should resign? No. He should be fired. Somebody has to take responsibility. Within every organisation and institution there is a system of heirarchy, being the top dog means you are ultimately responsible and accountable for everything. Your team's failure is without doubt YOUR failure.
Yes they were 'quite extraordinary circumstances', but that doesn't excuse anything. What is our police force if it can't protect us in situations when we most need them. Are they really that incompetent? The evidence seems to indicate so.
No. I have always thought that this was wrong from the start, and a few bad apples shouldn't lead us to generalise and say that the whole police force cannot be trusted.
No, I think Commander Dick should, she was the senior officer who was in-charge of the incident. Instead, what do they do... they promote her.
I thought you didn't live in London, if you don't then the Met isn't your police force, sorry I'm just picky.
Most people seem to think this way but I don't. I don't think he was even aware of this situation until after the guy was shot. If someone makes a mistake then shouldn't we also blame the individual instead of just the senior, or atleast blame the senior officer who was aware of the situation. Someone should be held accountable and I agree but not Sir Ian Blair, I believe Commander Dick should. However Sir Ian Blair's attitude stinks, he doesn't even want to admit that they made a mistake and hasn't even said sorry. And the fine they had to pay was totally stupid, where does the money come from which funds the police.... from the public purse.
I don't live in or around London but so what. The Met are still part of the UK police force, so effectively are 'our' police, whose jobs it is to serve and protect our people and our country. Their commissioner is the most senior police officer in Great Britain. That is scary.
There should be many sackings. Just because Sir Ian Blair might not have been totally aware of the whole situation that doesn't make him blame-free at all. So what if he wasn't told, why didn't he ask??? Is he that thick that he spoke to the public about his police killing someone without knowing all the details. His attitude from beginning to end is why he should be sacked. His police pumped 7 bullets into the head of an innocent man yet he can't see what all the fuss is about.
Actually there are 43 police forces in the UK, each responsible for their own area, so if you don't live in London then the Met isn't your police force.
He is not the most senior police officer in the UK. Each police force has it's own senior police officer, with the Met and City of London police, there is a commissioner, but for police forces outside London they have their own commissioner, except they are not called that, they're called Chief Constables.
I'm not saying Sir Ian Blair is blame-free, it's just that I see Commander Dick as more responsible as to what happened. She was in-charge of the operation and she was also commanding the officers on the ground before the guy was killed. I agree with you about his attitude though, it stinks. Some people seem to be saying what if the guy was a suicide bomber and he detonated the bomb and the police didn't do anything because they feared what might happen if the guy was innocent. Also no senior police officer gave the order to shoot because there was a loss of communication when the armed officers went underground.
This whole situation is only bought about because his name is Charles and not Abdullah.
He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition, burns a picture to obtain the ashes!
i have to agree with mmm if he was 2 be a muslim den wud dis still be going on? what if his name was abdullah or osama or hussain wud all this really being going on? i think not
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane, by those who couldn't hear the music...
Gosh , I hadn't even thought about that!! :shock:
MuslimBro I am perfectly aware that there are loads of different police forces in the UK. But that doesn't mean I can't be completely shocked by the actions of a particular one. They are still police officers in the UK. Yes one police force doesn't necessarily reflect on all others but this isn't the first such example and it won't be the last. And killing or letting innocent people die is pretty major IMO, especially when you get paid to protect them. Only recently a local woman was killed because of the actions or lack of, my local police force. I admire you for wanting to be a police officer and wish you all the best, I really do. Like all institutions the police aren't perfect, but if only they seemed to be learning from their mistakes.
As for Sir Ian Blair being the most senior police officer, it probably isn't official but he is regulatly referred to as such. Even today I heard and read how he 'is UK's top police officer'. I just can't stand him.