De Menezes Inquest Opens

An inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes has been launched in London.

Mr de Menezes was fatally shot by police in 2005 after he was mistakenly identified as a suicide bomber.

The Brazilian electrician was fired-upon while boarding an underground train in the capital. He took several deadly shots to the head.

Police had wrongly identified the 27-year-old man as one of four suspected bombers, who had allegedly planned an attack on the city's transport system earlier that day.

The three-year anniversary of Mr de Menezes' death passed on the 22 July.

Today a jury was sworn-in to decide whether Mr de Menezes was unlawfully killed.

The jury is expected to hear, for the first time, from the two officers who fired the deadly shots.

The 12 week hearing will be presided over by former High Court judge Sir Michael Wright.

In his opening statement, Sir Michael said: "The facts of the case are that two firearms officers shot dead Mr de Menezes because they thought he was a suicide bomber, but the facts were that Mr de Menezes was in no way associated with any form of terrorism."

Member of the de Menezes family filed into the Coroner Court earlier today, accompanied by members of the Justice 4 Jean campaign

The family made no comment to the waiting press outside the Oval Conference Centre, in south London.

However, some relatives continue to campaign for manslaughter charges to be brought against individual officers.

The inquest is expected to put more pressure on embattled London Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair.

Claims of endangering public safety, during the incident, prompted some to call for Sir Ian's resignation.

However, the Commissioner has fervently denied ongoing newspaper reports that his tenure as the city’s top cop is coming to an end.

Earlier this month he said: "The report of my death is an exaggeration".

Despite this, the police watchdog has already ruled-out disciplinary action against four senior officers over the killing.

Last year, the watchdog said individuals could not be held personally responsible for the mistakes that led to the shooting.

Prior to this decision the Met was fined £175,000 for breaches to health and safety rules.

In 2006 the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to charge any individual over De Menezes's death.

A Coroner's inquest aims to determine, who died, the logistics of the death and the medical explanation for death - it does not place guilt or make legal judgments.

(PR)