A top Scotland Yard officer who was personally criticised for failings in the Jean Charles de Menezes shooting has been appointed to the leadership of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Commander Moir Stewart will be the IPCC's new director of investigations and a member of its management board.

Menezes was shot dead on July 22, 2005, after being mistaken by armed police for a suicide bomber.

At the time Stewart was a top aide to Met commissioner Sir Ian Blair, serving as his staff officer. The IPCC report into the killing of the innocent Brazilian found Stewart had failed to tell Blair of a "major" development, which suggested the wrong man had been shot. Blair claimed he did not know this until the next day despite many inside the force soon fearing that an innocent man had been killed.

Stewart was also a senior figure in the Met team at the Old Bailey trial in which the force was convicted of catastrophic failings in the case. During the trial the Menezes family claimed the Met had tried to smear the character of their loved one.

The Menezes family said Stewart's appointment was "shocking", a former top Met officer said it risked damaging the already fragile confidence in the police watchdog, while the IPCC said he was an "outstanding" candidate for the job.

Harriet Wistrich, solicitor for the De Menezes family described Stewart as "a shocking appointment" and issued a direct challenge to Stewart: "If he wants to obtain any confidence from complainants, we would expect him to disown the attempt to smear Jean Charles de Menezes at the health and safety trial."

During that trial the family were angered when the Met's barrister, Ronald Thwaites QC, suggested cocaine use by the Brazilian could cause "distortion of thought processes" and, when its direct effects wore off, anxiety manifesting itself as paranoia.

In its report the IPCC criticised Stewart and a fellow aide to Blair, Caroline Murdoch: "Ms Murdoch and chief superintendent Stewart, the commissioner's personal staff, were amongst those who became aware during the afternoon of 22 July of the discovery of a wallet containing a Brazilian identification document near the body of the shot man.

"Not keeping the commissioner informed about what was clearly a major development and critical matter for the force was a mistake on their part."

The IPCC recommended Stewart receive "constructive advice from his managers" after finding there was no evidence of misconduct against him: "An error of judgment does not amount to misconduct. It was a mistake not to keep the commissioner informed of critical events."

Stewart was subsequently promoted and is currently head of Scotland Yard's complaints department. One of the reasons the IPCC was created was because of concern the police could not investigate complaints against themselves.

The former top Met officer Brian Paddick and Stewart clashed over their evidence to the IPCC about what was known about the shooting in the commissioner's office on the day of the shooting.

Paddick told The Guardian that the appointment would do little to boost confidence in the IPCC: "Bearing in mind the IPCC criticised him over his decision making ability, to have him in charge of investigations is not likely to build community confidence."

"This is a controversial appointment bearing in mind his role in the Stockwell shooting."

"Stockwell is still a matter that has had a significant impact on people's attitude towards the police service in London."

Human right lawyers have criticised the IPCC's effectiveness and ability to hold the police to account. It was criticised over its handling of the investigation into the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests earlier this year. It failed to find key evidence, which only came to light after it was discovered by The Guardian.

In a statement, Moir Stewart said: "I'm delighted to be joining the IPCC which has a vital role in building public confidence in policing. I am confident I can contribute to that aim."

The IPCC added in a statement : "Mr Stewart underwent a rigorous and thorough selection process in order to be considered for the Director of Investigations post. This process identified him as an outstanding candidate with the necessary skills andexperience to lead this vital area of work."

Guardian source