IPCC Statement Following Stockwell Verdict

Commenting on today's verdict in the trial of the Office of the Commissioner of the Metropolis for a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Nick Hardwick, the IPCC Chair, who oversaw the IPCC investigation, said:

"There are no winners in any of this. The outcome will not assuage the grief and anger of the Menezes family, the case has damaged the reputation of the Metropolitan Police and I know it has caused anguish for the officers involved and their families.

“I live and work in London and have never forgotten the enormous challenges faced by the MPS in July 2005 and that those challenges continue to the present day. I and my IPCC colleagues also recognise that some of the officers involved in the incident on 22 July displayed outstanding personal courage.

“However, the Met’s mission is to make London safer. On this one occasion, they failed.  

“Our investigation was completed within six months and like everyone else we regret that it was not possible to conclude the legal processes more quickly. However, before we could publish our report, the proper and lawful place to set out the evidence we obtained was in open court in front of a jury.  

“It is vital now that the right lessons are learnt and the public can have confidence in the measures taken by the police to combat the threat of suicide terrorism.  The IPCC has already obtained support from the Coroner to publish our report before the inquest and we hope to be able to do so within days.

“The IPCC investigation was carried out under intense scrutiny and faced many challenges.  There has been no serious challenge to the evidence we presented or the quality of our investigation. John Cummins, the IPCC senior investigator, and his team deserve all our thanks for the work they have done.

“The legal processes following the death of Jean Charles are still not complete.  Decisions have still to be made by the IPCC about the outstanding disciplinary issues and an inquest is expected in the late spring of 2008."

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Issued by IPCC Press Office on 0207 166 3214/3124 or out of hours duty press officer on 07717 851 157.