The Attorney General has rejected a request not to prosecute police over the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, it was announced.

Lord Goldsmith's office has written to the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) to say that the Crown Prosecution Service will continue with the matter. The MPA had written to the Government's senior law officer asking him to reconsider the prosecution.

Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot seven times in the head by anti-terror officers on July 22 last year after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.

The CPS announced in July that no individual officers would be charged over his death but the Metropolitan Police would face a prosecution under health and safety laws, as an organisation.

Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair later said this could have "very significant" implications and mark a "fundamental turning point" for British policing.

The MPA wrote to Lord Goldsmith asking whether there was a "better, less adversarial alternative" to learn lessons from the shooting. It also expressed concern that the prosecution would delay publication of the Independent Police Complaints Commission report into it.

In the letter dated August 4, MPA deputy chairman Reshard Auladin said the authority had "grave concerns" about the CPS decision. He wrote: "We are not convinced that the intended prosecution is the best way to give a transparent and comprehensive accounts of events in July last year."

On Thursday the MPA issued a statement saying it has received a reply to its letter. "The response confirms that the CPS has reviewed the matter and decided to continue the prosecution, and that the Attorney General accepts this view. The Authority will discuss this decision in due course," it said.

A spokesman for the Attorney General's office confirmed: "We have written explaining why we will go ahead."

Representatives of the Met appeared in court for the first time over the shooting of Mr de Menezes on August 14.

[Press Association article via the Guardian]

The Menezes family [amoung others] believe there has been a cover-up

The decision not to charge individual police officers over the fatal shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes is to be challenged in the High Court.

The Menezes family want a judicial review of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decision that there was not enough evidence for a murder trial.

The 27-year-old was shot after police mistook him for a suicide bomber [suspected socialist] on a London Tube train on 22 July last year.

Menezes family lawyers said the handling of the Menezes case by the authorities had amounted to a breach of his family's human rights.

Harriet Wistrich, one of their lawyers, accused the CPS of "usurping the role of the jury in its assessment of the evidence" in its decision not to prosecute any individuals.

The lawyers will also challenge the adjournment of the inquest into Mr Menezes's death and the failure of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to publish its report on the shooting.

Ms Wistrich said all of the factors combined to give "the appearance of a stitch-up".

[BBC article continues]

There are many articles on this blog on the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes. See the UNOFFICIAL NARRATIVE on the right-hand side.