The Jean Charles de Menezes Shooting
On the 21st of July 2005, there was a bomb scare in Central London. Coming as it did, a fortnight after 4 devices had been detonated to major damage and several deaths, the police mounted a response on a massive scale and London was placed on high alert. The next day, however, this was to go tragically wrong. An inocent Brazilian man was mistaken for one of the suspected suicide bombers and shot dead at Stockwell Tube Station.
Then, just last week, the Metropolitan Police was found guilty of gross negligence, or something. Anyway, that doesn't matter. What does matter is who is getting the blame. The Chief Commisioner, Sir Ian Blair. Why, oh why, oh why? He was not connected to the case. Yes, he put the city on highest alert, but with blooming good reason. He didn't give the intelligence that it might be one of the bombers. He didn't give the order ot detain that man. He didn't pull the trigger. So why should he get the blame? And why has an inquiry into the shooting only just started? It is two years after it happened. Witnesses can vanish or die. Memories can fade, change or even be changed. People can talk to other people. Things can be said. Why don't they do it immediately? Why has an inquest into Diana's death only just started. For that matter, why is it happening at all? They almost certainly had some alcohol in their bloodsteams. They almost certainly were speeding. They almost certainly were being chased. And the one person wearing his seatbelt survived. It could have been a campaign to get people to wear safety belts. It could have been a campaign against driving immediately after drinking. But instead it turns into this. Great!