On 16 March, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said that it 'will not give a running commentary' on the investigation into the conduct of the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, after Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by police on a train at Stockwell Tube Station on the morning of 22 July 2005. The IPCC inquiry is being carried out in response to allegations made by the dead man's family that Blair (and others in the Met) tried to mislead the public about the shooting. 'We will be making our decision on facts and not speculation,' the IPCC statement went on. 'We have not reached any conclusions yet. We suggest others wait for our investigation and not jump to conclusions prematurely.' The inquiry is expected to finish in April.

LRB 6 April 2006 | PDF Download