London police in court over shooting of Brazilian
(AP)
Updated: 2006-09-19 16:58 LONDON - Lawyers for London's
Metropolitan Police are to appear in court Tuesday to answer charges relating to
the July 2005 death of Jean Charles de Menezes, shot by officers who mistook him
for a suicide bomber.
De Menezes was shot seven times in the head by Scotland Yard anti-terror
officers as he sat aboard a train at a subway station in south London on July
22, 2005. Two weeks earlier, four suicide bombers had attacked London's transit
system, killing 52 people.
In July, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service decided not to charge any
individual officers in connection with the shooting, which provoked an angry
response from civil libertarians and de Menezes' family. Instead, the
Metropolitan Police has been charged with health and safety breaches over the
killing.
The force is expected to enter a plea to the health and safety charges. At a
hearing in August, a lawyer for the department said they needed more time to
consider the evidence before deciding whether to plead guilty or not guilty. If
convicted, the force could face an unlimited fine.
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