De Menezes documents leaked to ITV

Relatives of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes are pressing for the suspension of the police "shoot-to-kill" policy following information on the case was leaked to ITV News.

Mr de Menezes, 27, was mistakenly shot dead by officers at Stockwell Tube station in July, who suspected he was a suicide bomber.

However, according to ITV the leaked documents, thought to form part of the inquiry into the incident, are at odds with the official police version of events.

The documents claim that Mr de Menezes who was shot eight times, seven times through the head, did not run away from police nor did he vault the ticket barrier at the station before armed police officers shot him.

ITV claimed that the documents indicate that he entered the station at a "normal walking pace," had paused to pick up a free newspaper. Furthermore the documents indicate that Mr de Menezes was wearing a light jacket and not a heavily padded one.

Commenting on the documents the Independent Police Complaints Commission in a statement made last night said: "We do not know from which organisation or from whom the documents shown on television this evening have come.

"The IPCC investigation into the shooting of Mr de Menezes is continuing. Our priority is to disclose any findings direct to the family, who will clearly be distressed that they have received information on television concerning his death.

"The IPCC made it clear that we would not speculate or release partial information about the investigation, and that others should not do so. That remains the case.

"The IPCC operates a very high degree of security for all such investigations which we regularly review."

However, the lawyer for the de Menezes family, Harriet Wistrich, described the information in the documents as "shocking" and said that the family were distressed at the latest revelations. Ms Wistrich called for the government to review its "shoot to kill" policy.

The family are seeking a public inquiry into the shooting and have called for the officers responsible to be suspended.

Initially police had linked the shooting to anti-terrorist operations, but had later conceded that Mr de Menezes, who was an electrician, was not linked to the attempted terrorist attacks on London the day before the shooting.

(SP)