LONDON—A review by the police watchdog has ruled that no officer will face action over the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes following an inquest ruling that the death could not be described as a "lawful killing."
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said on Friday that it stood by an original decision not to instigate disciplinary procedures against any officer over the death of de Menezes who was killed by police on June 22, 2005.
De Menezes, an electrician living and working in London, was shot seven times in the head by two specialist firearms officers in front of shocked commuters as he boarded a train at Stockwell station.
The 27-year-old was targeted because some undercover officers believed he might have been Hussein Osman, one of four Islamist militants who had unsuccessfully tried to bomb London's transport network the day before.
Miscommunication and Confusion
An inquest into his death last year heard a series of miscommunications and confusion led firearms officers, who were late arriving on the scene, to believe de Menezes was a suicide bomber who was about to detonate explosives.
Eyewitnesses also contradicted statements that warnings of "armed police" had been shouted to the Brazilian before he was shot and said some officers appeared to have been "out of control."
The inquest jury, which delivered an open verdict, backed passengers' accounts, ruling there had been no warnings nor had de Menezes moved towards officers as they claimed.
But the IPCC said there was no new evidence to justify taking action.
"Overall, the civilian witnesses paint a picture of confusing and terrifying events happening very quickly," IPCC chairman Nick Hardwick said in Friday's report.
"They do not support a case for disciplinary action against the officers."
Vivian Figueiredo, de Menezes's cousin, said her family had been "completely failed" and that no one should accept the decision.
"The inquest jury decided that Jean was not killed lawfully, that many terrible mistakes were made and they did not accept police officers' accounts," she said in a statement.
"Yet the IPCC think no one should ever be held accountable for this."
The family's lawyer Harriet Wistrich said the decision relied on "a selective history of previous decisions made and advanced by those representing the police but rejected by a jury at the inquest."
In 2007, the Metropolitan Police as a force was found guilty of breaking health and safety rules before the shooting but prosecutors ruled out action against individuals, including senior officers based in the police operations room.
The Crown Prosecution Service also concluded after a review earlier this year that there was no new evidence to justify criminal charges against any officer.
