Police told not to shoot; lied to pathologist; Blair tried to delay investigation
In what could be desperate arse-covering, the commander of the Police operation that ended in the killing of an innocent Brazilian has said she ordered the Police to detain him alive.Further revelations are that the Police pathologist was lied to, with the Police telling him:
"He (Jean Charles) was pursued by armed police. He was followed into Stockwell Tube where he vaulted over the ticket barrier. "He ran downstairs on to the train where it appears that he stumbled. The officers then immobilised him and a number of shots were fired."
It appears that the only people who vaulted the barrier were the Police team, who presumably also had bulky jackets on. This might explain some of the eye-witness reports.
The other point of importance is "Sir" Ian Blair's on the day of the shooting, wrote to the Home Office asking to delay the start of an inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, saying that a terrorist investigation should take precedence.
Superficially this sounds attractive. A terrorist is dead, a massive manhunt is underway, and an inquiry can only waste time and use up valuable resources. Of course we now know that there is a good reason why inquiries are automatic, and that is because these easy assumptions are often wrong.
The Mirror also reports that Charles Clarke, who comes out of the affair well, is distancing himself from Ian Blair. Good.
Update: Telegraph says Blair might have to go.
This business has the makings of one of the worst blunders in the history of the Metropolitan Police. The IPCC report must tell us whether Sir Ian knowingly allowed his officers to mislead the public. If he did, it is hard to see how he can remain in his post
posted by Matthew @ 8/18/2005 08:47:00 AM
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