Menezes 'not given chance to protest his innocence'

Jean Charles de Menezes was not given the proper choice to protest his innocence in the moments before the Brazilian was shot dead by armed police, it was revealed today.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) report into the aftermath of the shooting said police had apparently given him no instruction "that an innocent man would have understood".

It contradicts the Met's insistence throughout July 22, 2005 that he had failed to obey a challenge by police at Stockwell Tube station.

The new information is among crucial new details about the build up to the shooting that emerged in the Stockwell 2 report.

Although the conduct of officers involved in the actual shooting is part of a separate investigation, today's report has begun to shed light on what happened.

Mr Menezes was followed by police to Stockwell from his flat in Scotia Road, Tulse Hill, south London, which was under surveillance due to the previous day's attempted bombings.

The report revealed that police radio traffic and accounts from officers "inaccurately" described his clothing as he headed to the station.

Then, just before he was shot, there appears not to have been an adequate warning to the Brazilian, according to the report.

"The IPCC investigation team understands that Mr de Menezes did not refuse to obey a challenge prior to being shot and was not wearing any clothing that could be classed as suspicious," the report stated.

It later added: "Whether Mr de Menezes was challenged is disputed and forms part of the Stockwell 1 investigation.

"However, there is no suggestion that the challenge is one that an innocent man would have understood or that Mr de Menezes was given instructions that he could have chosen to obey."

The report said that in the aftermath of the shooting the Met then did release "incorrect information" that Mr de Menezes had been challenged and "refused to obey".

They also continued to "wrongly" tell the media Mr de Menezes had been wearing clothing which added to the police's suspicions that he may have been a suicide bomber.

But the report did say that the incorrect releases to the media were not made "knowingly" as police had believed them to be the facts at the time.