Ian Blair - Commissioner - Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes

Shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes

Several months into his tenure, Jean Charles de Menezes was shot and killed by armed police who mistakenly believed he was a suicide bomber.

After the shooting Blair telephoned the Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and wrote a letter to the Home Office stating that "the shooting that has just occurred at Stockwell is not to be referred to the IPCC and that they will be given no access to the scene at the present time".

Blair has since claimed that he made this order in an effort to prevent critical aspects of an ongoing investigation to be leaked. He said, "The IPCC has a duty to provide as much information as it can to members of the deceased's family and I felt that supplying details of tactics or sources to the family of a suspected terrorist could put further lives at risk."

Blair also claimed that a warning had been issued prior to the shooting. The IPCC held an investigation into what later turned out to be a false statement, and into allegations of attempts to delay an inquiry. On 2 August 2007 the IPCC announced its findings that the allegations against Blair couldn't be substantiated, instead placing the blame for misleading the public on Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, who had failed to report his suspicions that an innocent man had been killed, and had released contradictory statements to the press.

After Blair learned that the shooting of de Menezes had been a case of mistaken identity, he briefly considered resigning.

During the investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into the wrongful shooting, one of his Deputy Assistant Commissioners Brian Paddick stated that a member of Blair's private office team had believed the wrong man had been targeted just six hours after the shooting. This allegation was contradicted by New Scotland Yard, and Paddick said that this amounted to accusing him of lying. On 28 March 2006, Paddick accepted a statement from the Metropolitan Police that it "did not intend to imply" a senior officer had misled the probe into the shooting and that "any misunderstanding is regretted".

In June 2006, a leaked copy of the Independent Police Complaints Commission report sparked further criticism and calls to quit.

On 1 November 2007, a jury convicted the Metropolitan Police of violating health and safety laws, highlighting 19 "catastrophic errors" but said it was an "isolated breach under quite extraordinary circumstances". Blair rejected a vote of no confidence by the London Assembly a week later. Blair continued to receive the support of the Metropolitan Police Authority, the head of which said that he would not have accepted any resignation offered by Blair.