Family Call for Tube Death Truth

The cousin of Jean Charles de Menezes made a personal trip to Downing Street last night to call for a full public inquiry into the police shooting while demanding “truth and justice”.

Alessandro Pereira demanded answers about the death of his cousin who was shot at Stockwell Tube station exactly a month ago.

He said: “I have just handed a letter to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair on behalf of the family both here and in Brazil.

“I am calling on him to make sure that those responsible for the murder of Jean are brought to justice.

“The family also calls for a full public inquiry into all the circumstances into the death of my cousin including the shoot to kill policy and the lies we have been told by the Metropolitan Police.”

He added: “Every day we discover more and more lies.

“We have heard too many, we simply demand truth and justice.”

Solicitors working on behalf of Mr Menezes’ family said the next stage of the inquest into his death would take place at Southward Coroner’s Court today.

As the emotional and fraught trip to Number 10 was made, two senior Brazilian justice officials were meeting Metropolitan Police officers at Scotland Yard nearby.

Wagner Goncalves, of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, and Marcio Pereira Pinto Garcia, of the Ministry of Justice, met the Met police Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Yates.

The Met’s Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, was present for part of the discussion.

Scotland Yard described it as a “positive and constructive” meeting.

In a statement, the force said that it had briefed Mr de Menezes’s family in the UK – his cousins – two days after the shooting.

Officers told them that the electrician had not run into the Tube station, had not been wearing a padded jacket and that he had not vaulted the ticket barrier, a spokesperson said.

Much of the criticism of Scotland Yard in the last seven days has been based on claims that they did not do enough to correct the apparently misleading initial reports of the shooting.

The controversy over Mr de Menezes’s death was only re-ignited last week when leaked documents appeared to contradict earlier police and witness accounts of the incident on July 22.

However the Met said it had told members of Mr de Menezes’s family on July 24 that many of the initial reports were wrong.

Scotland Yard has also come under fire for offering Mr de Menezes’ family in Brazil a pounds 15,000 ex-gratia payment in a complex legal letter written in English, when they only speak Portuguese.

Last night, the Yard said that the purpose of this had been to offer an apology in person and to provide the family with details of “initial funds” that would be made available to assist them.

Mr Goncalves and Mr Garcia are expected to meet members of the IPCC tomorrow. Obtaining “clarification” on the string of revelations about the death of Mr de Menezes is likely to be top of their agenda