IPCC: Delay taking over Stockwell shooting case 'cause for concern'

Times Online: 'Crucial' Stockwell CCTV footage given to inquiry

CCTV footage recovered from the scene of the shooting by police of Jean Charles de Menezes has proved to be "crucial" to the inquiry into his death, the inquiry head said tonight.

Nick Hardwick, chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), said he was confident his team now had all the relevant CCTV from Stockwell Tube Station and that there was "no reason" to believe any had been deliberately withheld.

However he said tonight that the delay between the shooting and the IPCC taking on the investigation had been a "cause for concern" that his organisation would have to address.

Speaking after a meeting with a delegation of senior Brazilian officials, Mr Hardwick said he was not aware of any "missing" information about the incident on July 22.

He confirmed that the issue of the CCTV was something that the Brazilian officials had asked about.

"I am confident that we have all the CCTV footage but as I have said on many occasions, we are not going to believe anything until we have independently verified it," he said.

"Some of the CCTV footage we have had has been crucial to the investigation. I have seen it and it is very helpful. I have no reason to believe that anything has been withheld."

However Mr Hardwick declined to definitively clarify whether there was any CCTV film from the platform at Stockwell Station which would show Mr de Menezes's last moments. Read more

db: Nick Hardwick is choosing his words carefully. He is clearly seeking to avoid a further public confrontation with the Met. It may become clear later how much CCTV footage, if any, was subject to synchronized technical problems and/or 'planned outages'.