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22nd July 2005
10.05am Jean Charles de Menezes is killed by security forces at Stockwell tube station
11am A letter is sent from Iain Blair’s office to the Home Office asking for suspension of the IPCC investigation into the killing. Blair instructs his officer’s to close Stockwell station to the IPCC.
3.30pm Sir Iain Blair, the head of the Metropolitan police appears on TV saying that the person who was killed earlier in the day was part of the terrorism operations, that he was challenged and refused to stop and that he was acting suspiciously.
23rd
Jean’s family are not informed that he was killed for over 24hours. They are taken by the police and placed in a remote hotel in Kingston, offered no information about legal representation and have their telephones in their hotel rooms cut off by the police meaning they cannot communicate with their family in Brazil.
25th
2pm The inquest into Jean’s killing opens at Southwark Coroners Court.
3pm The cousins of Jean meet the Brazilian Foreign Minister who is on a trip to London and express their concerns surrounding his shooting
Jean’s cousins are put under pressure by the Brazilian embassy and their assigned police liaison officers not to have a second autopsy.
The Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign is founded
27th
The family campaign holds its first press conference where Jean’s cousins express their anger and pain over the lies that have been put out in the public domain by the police and demand justice for their loss. They state that Jean was not wearing a bulky jacket but a denim jacket on the day he was killed. They are joined by Bianca Jagger, the EU goodwill ambassador for Human Rights and their solicitor, prominent Human Rights lawyer Gareth Peirce.
29th
Jean’s funeral is held in his hometown of Gonzaga, Brazil.
At the same time the family campaign holds a vigil in Parliament Square, London.
This is followed by a multi-faith service attended by over 1000 people held in Westminster Cathedral. Speakers at the service included Professor Tariq Ramadan, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Father Frederico Ribeiro and Bianca Jagger
The IPCC gain access to Stockwell tube station for the first time to start their investigations – 7 days after the incident.
August 2005
Representatives from the Metropolitan police visit Jean’s family in Gonzaga without informing their legal representatives in what is seen as an attempt by the family to bribe them into silence. Jean’s brother, Giovanni de Menezes responds angrily stating, “we may be poor but we are not stupid”. Family vow to continue their struggle for justice
17th
Explosive leaked documents from the IPCC investigations are given to ITV news showing that Jean was killed with 7 bullets to the head, that he did not run, was not challenged, was not wearing a bulky jacket and was not correctly identified. The family of Jean react with shock and declare that is obvious there has been an attempt at a cover up
18th
Jean’s family call for Sir Iain Blair to resign in light of the gross cover-up and lies that him and his office put in the public domain.
19th
Sir Iain Blair claims that he was not told that an innocent man was killed until 24hours after the event. The family campaign state that it is inconceivable that officers would not have immediately been able to identify Jean from his driving license and see he was not Hussain Osman (the suspected bomber). As head of the Metropolitan Police if Ian Blair did not know about these briefings then he is incompetent, if he did know, he is implicated in them. Either way, he has to resign.
22nd
The family campaign has a demonstration outside of 10 Downing St where Alessandro Pereira, cousin of Jean delivers a letter to Tony Blair on behalf of the family campaign asking him to hold to account those people who killed and to order a full judicial public inquiry into his killing
27th September 2005
Jean’s parents and brother arrive in London for a 2 week visit to meet with the IPCC, meet with the Metropolitan Police Authority and visit other families who have been through similar tragedies. The family refuse to meet Sir Iain Blair or any representatives from the Metropolitan police.
28th
Jean’s parents and brother from Brazil retrace his last steps from his flat in Tulse Hill to Stockwell tube station. They count the CCTV cameras and are dumbfounded at how CCTV footage from the day has gone missing or does not exist. Jean’s mother Maria Otone de Menezes tells the press "Those who killed my son, as much as the police chief who is responsible for the whole team, should be punished. I want the police responsible to be taken to justice. He was a hard-working boy. When the police took his life, they took my life as well."
10th October 2005
Jean’s parents officially launch their family campaign with a packed public meeting of over 250 people at the London School of Economics with Bianca Jagger, Gareth Pierce, Matthew Taylor MP and a representative on behalf of Irene Khan, the Secretary General of Amnesty International.
11th
Jean’s family visit numerous MP’s in Parliament and ask them for support for their campaign.
25th
The family campaign takes part in the annual United Friend and Family Campaign demonstration in solidarity with other families who have had relative die in police custody. Alex Pereira and Partricia Armarni, Jean’s cousins, join families outside of Downing St to protest at the lack of prosecutions and justice coming out of previous police killings.
16th November 2005
It is revealed that dum-dum bullets were allegedly used in Jean’s killing. Dum-dum bullets burst on impact to increase injuries and are prohibited in warfare under international treaties. The family campaign reacts with shock and anger stating that if this is true, it add’s to the case for Jean’s death being unlawful.
25th
The family campaign organises a fundraiser party with the Peace-Not-War collective at JAMM in Brixton
28th
It is revealed that the Home Secretary will approve a separate investigation by the IPCC into the conduct of Sir Ian Blair following the killing of Jean Charles by police forces at Stockwell tube station on 22nd July 2005. The request for an investigation follows a letter of complaint from the Menezes family to the IPCC claiming that Ian Blair had misled the family and the public immediately after Jean's death. This second investigation by the IPCC has since been dubbed “Stockwell 2”
7th January 2006
To commemorate what would have been the 28th birthday of Jean Charles, the family campaign held a special Memorial Mass St Anne's Church, London
22nd
To mark the passing of 6 months since Jean’s killing, the family campaign hold a public vigil at Stockwell tube station
8th March
Jean’s cousins in London meet with the President of Brazil Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva at the end of his UK state visit and ask for his help in their struggle for justice. Lula privately tells them he will do all he can to help them find out the truth.
13th
It emerges that Metropolitan police chief Sir Ian Blair secretly recorded the conversation with the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith and the chair of the IPCC Nick Hardwick regarding Jean’s killing. Commentators agreed that this was unconstitutional, unethical and quite possible unlawful and there are further calls for Blair to resign.
14th
The IPCC announced that the first part of the inquiry, known as "Stockwell 1" had been completed and recommendations were passed on to the Metropolitan Police Authority and Crown Prosecution Service, but the report could not be made public until all legal processes have concluded.
17th
It emerges that in evidence to the IPCC, Deputy Assitant Commisoner Brian Paddick had stated that a member of Sir Ian's private office team believed that an innocent man had been killed on the afternoon of July 22nd contrary to the official line taken at the time.
5th June 2006
Police shoot a man in a near fatal attack and assault a family in another botched anti-terrorism operation. The shot man, Mohammed Abdul Kahar, aged 23, was shot only 1inch away from his left lung.
16th
The Inquest into Jean’s killing re-opens at Southwark Coroners Court. The family of Jean express their frustration at he slow pace of the CPS investigations and asks the Coroner to put pressure on the CPS for a speedy conclusion to their decision on whether or not to prosecute officers.
18th
The family campaign show support for victims of Forest gate shooting by attending a demonstration led by the families of Abul Koyair and his injured brother Mohammed Abdul Kahar. Alex Pereira and Patricia Armani, Jean’s cousins, speak at the demonstration and demand that the officers responsible for this shooting should be prosecuted, warning that yet another innocent life could have been lost.
July 2006
A week before the one year anniversary of Jean’s killing, the Crown Prosecution service announced that they would not charge any police officer with any offence as a result of the shooting. At the same time they announce a decision to prosecute the Metropolitan police as a corporate body under Health and Safety legislation for failing to protect the health and safety of the Jean Charles. The family find it unacceptable that no individuals will be held criminally liable for the killing and see the health and safety prosecution as completely inappropriate. Under such a prosecution, no individual will be held accountable for the killing and the maximum penalty is a fine, ultimately paid by the tax payer.
September 2006
The Coroner presiding over the inquest in Jean’s death at Southwark Coroner court adjourns the inquest until after the Health and Safety prosecution of the Metropolitan Police.
November 2006
The police officer who fired the shots that killed Jean Charles, shoots and kills another member of the public during an alleged attempted robbery in Kent. The Menezes family react with shock that this person was given firearms duties again before investigations into Jean’s death were completed. They state that it is totally premature for officers involved in suspicious deaths to be put back on front line duty before their has been public scrutiny of their actions.
December 2006
The family seek a judicial review of decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any individual police officers for the killing of Jean. Lawyers for the family argue that a prosecution under Health and Safety is a misuse of legislation which was never intended to apply to policing decisions. As no individual officer can be held responsible through the prosecution there will be no personal accountability for those who ordered and carried out Jean’s killing.
The family also brought Judicial Review proceedings against the decision by the Coroner to adjourn the inquest until after the Health and Safety prosecution arguing that in order to fulfil the State’s obligations under Article 2 of the Human Rights Act 1998 there needs to be an effective, independent and prompt public investigation with involvement from Jean’s family.
A further Judicial Review was bought of the decision by the IPCC not to publish Stockwell 1. Lawyers for the family argued that by not publishing their report, the IPCC is failing to fulfil its public duty as enshrined in its own statutory guidance to operate an ‘open and transparent’ system and make it impossible to ascertain on what basis the CPS’ decisions were made.
The family lose their Judicial Reviews against the CPS and Coroner’s decision. The IPCC, following threat of judicial review, agrees to show a redacted version of their report to one member of the Menezes family, to read under IPCC supervision and under very strict rules that prohibit her from discussing the report with anyone else.
Andy Hayman, the Met's head of counter-terrorism since 2005 and who is heavily implicated in Stockwell 2 (see below) and the Forest gate shootings, is awarded an CBE in the Queen’s New year honours list.
Feb 2007
Cressida Dick, the officer in command of the botched operation which led to Jean’s death is promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner by the Metropolitan Police Authority. The Menezes family react with anger to this decision; a spokesperson for the campaign says ‘it is completely premature for officers who are subject to investigation to be promoted before there has been any public scrutiny of their actions. The Metropolitan Police Authority is failing in its duty to hold the police to account. By promoting officers before the legal process is complete they are sending out a message that these police officers are above the law and have already been exonerated”
May 2007
The IPCC announce that following its Stockwell 1 investigation (which remains secret and unpublished) it has decided not to recommend disciplinary action for 11 officers involved in the Menezes killing including those that directly shot him. They said they will reserve judgement for the 4 more senior officers until after the Health and Safety prosecution against the police in October 2007.
This decision was made in spite of strong representations against such a decision by the family’s legal team. The family believe it is a travesty that such decisions were being made about officers directly responsible for the killing of an innocent man before they have had full access to the evidence and before any of that evidence has been tested in court.
July 2007
To commemorate the 2nd anniversary of Jean’s killing, the family campaign projects an image onto the side of the House of Commons featuring Jean’s picture and the words ‘Menezes: 2 years, No justice’. They visit Stockwell tube station and hold a short memorial to remember Jean and hold a packed public meeting in central London to campaign on their case.
August 2007
The IPCC published Stockwell 2; their investigation into complaints made by the Menezes family into the lies put in the public domain about Jean and left uncorrected. The report was completed almost twelve months ago but its publication delayed due to, amongst other things, attempted legal challenges by police officers criticised in the report. In the end, the report was edited by the IPCC to remove those criticisms and the legal challenges dropped. We do not know what was taken out but what was published was a damning indictment of the Met with the report concluding that the UK’s most senior anti-terrorism officer, Andy Hayman, deliberately misled the public over the shooting.
The report found that the allegations that Jean Charles was wearing a bulky jacket, had failed to stop after a police warning, had jumped the ticket barriers or in any other way acted suspiciously in the moments leading up to the shooting were all false. Unbelievably it cleared the Met’s commissioner, Ian Blair, of any wrong doing claiming that he was not told the wrong man had been shot until 24 hours after the shooting despite but acknowledged that officers in Scotland Yard and other London forces were aware that afternoon that an innocent man had been killed.
Despite revealing shocking levels of incompetence at senior levels of the Met and deliberate attempts to lie to the public, the IPCC failed to recommend any meaningful disciplinary against Hayman or any other Met official. The report now goes to the Metropolitan Police Authority for consideration.
September 2007
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