How the Met changed its tone on the shooting

After the shooting two years ago, the Met commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, was full of apologies and condolences to the De Menezes family. "This is a tragedy," he said at the time. "The Metropolitan police accept full responsibility for this. To the family I can only express my deep regrets." Scotland Yard duly despatched assistant commissioner, John Yates, to Brazil as a further indication of the Yard's desire to make amends.

But last week, when the Met were in the dock at the Old Bailey, the tone was markedly different. In his closing speech, Ronald Thwaites, QC, the Met's defence barrister said of De Menezes: "He was shot because, when he was challenged by police, he did not comply with them but reacted precisely as they had been briefed a suicide bomber might react at the point of detonating his bomb."

Mr Thwaites went on to paint a damning portrait of the dead man: "Not only did he not comply, he moved in an aggressive and threatening manner." He suggested that De Menezes might have been worried about traces of drugs or a phoney visa. "Did he fear he might have some drugs in his jacket and might want to get them out and throw them away when he was challenged by the police?"

Towards the very end of the trial, Mr Thwaites also tried to make the judge, Mr Justice Henriques, disqualify himself on the grounds that he was "entirely pro-prosecution, unbalanced and totally lacking in objectivity".

Sir Ian was in court to hear the jury deliver its guilty verdict. Speaking outside the Old Bailey Sir Ian was in obdurate mood insisting there was no evidence of systematic failure by the Metropolitan police, telling the media "I am going to go back to New Scotland Yard to get on with my job." Link