Articles | Protest as Menezes inquest retires

Protest as Menezes inquest retires

Published: Thursday, 4 December 2008, 3:25PM

Relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes have staged a courtroom protest just before a jury in the inquest retired to consider its verdict.

Cousins of the 27-year-old Brazilian, who was gunned down by police marksmen when mistaken for a suicide bomber, stood up and unveiled T-shirts displaying the message: "Your legal right to decide - unlawful killing verdict."

Coroner Sir Michael Wright has directed the 11 members of the jury to rule out a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of Mr de Menezes who was shot dead on July 22, 2005, at Stockwell Tube station in south London.

It came a day after a gang of Islamist extremists attempted copycat attacks of the July 7 bombings that left 52 victims dead.

Sir Michael's ruling leaves the men and women with a straight choice between lawful killing or an open verdict. He told the jurors to cast aside "any emotion" over the innocent Brazilian's shooting after hearing more than seven weeks of evidence.

At the Oval cricket ground in south London, Sir Michael said: "You may notice that Mr Mansfield and Miss Hill and their instructing solicitors are no longer in their places. The evidence and legal submissions, of course, are now all over, and we have had all their assistance throughout those very important stages. I understand, however, that from this point they will no longer be here."

He continued: "There is absolutely no difficulty about that, no disrespect is meant by it to anyone, and I am sure that you will have been greatly assisted by their work over the course of this inquest. The other representation remains as before."

Sir Michael has taken the unconventional step of issuing a "questionnaire" relating to the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Jurors must decide:

Did officer C12 shout the words "armed police" at Mr de Menezes before firing?

Did Mr de Menezes stand up from his seat before he was grabbed in a bear-hug by officer Ivor?

Did Mr de Menezes move towards C12 before he was grabbed in a bear-hug by officer Ivor?

On Wednesday, the jury, which has heard from 100 witnesses, including the two police marksmen who shot the electrician dead, was told police were wrong in claiming they could not access photographs which could have ruled out Mr de Menezes as a suspected suicide bomber.