Dec 12 2008
Open Verdict Returned At The Jean Charles de Menezes Inquest
I wrote my first bloog today before I realised that the Jean Charles de Menezes inquest verdit was to be returned today.
On July 7, 2005 (or 7/7 as it has commonly been known ever since) saw the worst terror attack ever to hit London. A group of Islamic extremist suicide bombers headed onto various Tube services as many Londoners were travelling to work. They systematically waited until they could do the maximum damage before blowing themselves up and taking many innocents with them. London felt panic and fear that resembled that of New York on September 11, 2001. Although many of the perpetrators had died in the carnage, a few terrorists that were behind the attack had been identified and acknowledged to be alive. The police even knew where one of them lived and immediately put the flat under surveillance.
Jean Charles de Menezes, a South American man that had been unlucky enough to be living in the same flats as those terrorists, was just 27 when he was shot dead on the London Underground two weeks later on July 22. He had left his flat with backpack in tow to head across the capital. Unfortunately, his disappearence from the flat caused such panic that he was chased down and shot nine times after boarding the Tube. He was shot in front of 3 witnesses, which is why the whole tragic situation becomes interesting. Although the police thought him to be a terrorist, he was an innocent man that was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
During the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, which has been going on for 3 months and cost £10 million plus in tax, the jury heard police state that they had given a warning after which de Menezes had advanced on them, looking as if he was about to set off a bomb. The jury also heard from 3 witnesses, all of whom were in the carriage that de Menezes died in, that stated there was no warning and thought the police were the terrorists!
An open verdict was eventually returned today after the jury had been banned from returning a verdict of unlawful killing, which is essentially murder. None of the jury believe the story of the police and, as a result, confidence in the Metropolitan Police will undoubtedly be lost. I feel sorry for the family of Jean Charles de Menezes but, regardless of the verdict, still wonder to this day why he ran from the police. He was in a public place and, although I have no doubt he was scared, had he stopped he would still be alive today. He paid the price with his life but had absolutely nothing to hide, so why did he just not stop?
In effect, an innocent man died as a result of terrorist action that had occured just 2 weeks previously. Some are blaming the police but that is redundant. Time blurs all memories and we cannot fully appreciate the atmosphere in the capital today. London was a very different place then with an atmosphere of fear that has to be taken into account. Although Jean Charles de Menezes was innocent, he was unlucky enough to live in the same flats as terrorists and made the poor decision to run. Police acted on their instincts and made the wrong choice but what if they had hesitated and he had set off a bomb? We would have been criticising them for not taking swift and decisive action.
It is important to remember that there are two sides to every story. I feel immense sorrow for the family of Jean Charles de Menezes but, on the other hand, hindsight is a wonderful thing. The police were wrong and some accountability should apply but if they become scared to make judgements and decisions when working in a high pressure atmosphere then we could all ultimately end up paying the price instead of benefitting from the overall protection they offer.
No good can come of this open verdict in any way, shape or form and millions of taxpayer pounds have been wasted to hold this inquest. As a result, it needs to be laid to rest now. We will never know what happened in its entirity on that day but lessons need to be learned. The de Menezes family will never get the justice they believe they should have because nobody will be prosecuted for the death of Jean Charles de Menezes and should now grieve in peace. The police will never be rendered blameless no matter what accounts they give. As such, the issue needs to be dropped before more money that could be spent on the NHS is squandered on a fruitless waste of time.
