I killed an innocent man over mistaken identity - I'd do anything to change it
The firearms officer, codenamed C2, killed the innocent Brazilian with six bullets after his colleague initially opened fire, after the pair had followed the 27-year-old electrician into Stockwell tube station wrongly believing he was a would-be suicide bomber
One of the two marksmen who shot Jean Charles de Menezes has spoken about the tragedy for the first time – 20 years after one of Britain's worst police blunders.
In an emotional admission he accepted responsibility for the innocent Brazilian's death and apologised.
He said: 'I would say to Jean Charles' family that I am sorry, that I and another officer were put in a position where we killed your son. I would do anything to roll back time, to have a different set of circumstances where that didn't happen.'
Jean Charles, 27, died after he was pinned down and shot in the head by two officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber in a tube train at Stockwell station, South London, on July 22, 2005.
The incident followed heightened tensions a fortnight after 7/7 when 52 people were killed, and a day after would-be suicide bombers tried to detonate more devices on London's transport network.
Speaking in a four-part Netflix documentary released next week, the policeman, codenamed C2, remembered: 'By the time I'd got home I was aware there was speculation regarding the identity of the person I had killed. I didn't get any sleep, and I still had massive tinnitus, a very, very loud ringing in my ears.
'The next day I caught the tube back to work and I was called into the chief superintendent's office. He told me that the man I shot was completely innocent. I can't describe how I felt, the worst feeling ever, I killed an innocent man and I now know who that man is.'
C2 killed the electrician with six bullets after his colleague initially opened fire. He said: 'I am responsible, and I accept responsibility. As a firearms officer ultimately the decision to use force is yours. But why were we in that position? Those people in command put me in that position, they also have to answer.'
His apology is of little comfort to the de Menezes family. Among those are Jean Charles' cousins, Patricia Da Silva Armani and Vivian Figueiredo, who he was sharing a flat with at the time.
Speaking to us, Patricia, 51, remembers the last time she saw her younger cousin alive, two days before he died.
READ MORE: 'There are three of us in our marriage - me, Gem and the 7/7 bomber'
She said: 'I'd just got back from work and he was getting ready to go out. We had coffee together, and he told me about a new job he was going to start on the Friday, putting in electrical installations in a building. He'd been washing dishes in a restaurant until then.
'He was really excited about it, the happiest I'd ever seen him. It was well paid and he felt his life was finally on the way up.
'He said goodbye and went to leave but for some reason when he got to the door he turned round and came and gave me a big hug and a kiss.
'We were close but that took me by surprise. I said to him, 'Oh, how delicious!' Now off you go to work' and he went. The next time I saw Jean was at the morgue.'
Jean was on his way to the new job on the Friday morning when police started following him, believing he was one of the four men who had failed to detonate bombs on the capital's transport system the day before. One of the terrorists, Hussein Osman, lived in the same building as the three cousins.
Patricia and Vivian heard about the shooting on the news, and later that the suspect had been an innocent Brazilian, but they never imagined it was Jean.
Vivian, 42, woke up the following morning, still unaware.
'Everything was so silent at the house. I knocked on Jean's bedroom door, no answer,' she said. 'So I slowly opened the door. The bed was made, everything was neat and tidy. I just thought, 'Jean probably didn't come home last night'.'
But then there was a knock at the door from two of Jean's friends who police had visited in the early hours.
'They told them he was suspected of terrorism and had been arrested,' she recalled. 'I was shocked. But I also had hope. It was just a matter of going to the police to clarify everything.'
Vivian and Patricia were taken to the police station, where two other cousins, Alex Alves Pereira and Alessandro Pereira, were already waiting.
Patricia remembered: 'Alex was really agitated. He kept saying, 'They f***ed up, they f***ed up'. He'd already joined the dots, I thought he had been arrested. They took us to a room and sat us down around a table.
'My English wasn't great and I didn't understand a lot of what they were saying. I only understood the last part – 'He is dead'. Still, I didn't think I'd heard right.
'I turned round to one of the others and he took my hand. His hand was freezing. He told me Jean was the Brazilian who had been shot dead. I went into total despair. Everyone was crying and screaming.'
They were then taken to the morgue to identify Jean Charles' body. Patricia recalled: 'He was already arranged and dressed up. That's when I became ill and fainted. The next thing I remember is me sitting on a sofa with a policewoman trying to calm me down.
'I later heard that Alex and Vivian barged into the room and grabbed Jean's body. So it was very tense.'
The family pursued fruitless legal action and no officers were charged, although the Met was found guilty of health and safety failures.
Patricia added: 'For months I lived in shock. I wasn't able to hear a police siren without shaking. I'd get scared whenever I see policemen on the street. Even today when I'm on the tube, I'm constantly thinking about how I should escape if anything happens.
'For the first years, I thought about Jean every day and I would cry every day. This year has brought back a lot of the trauma and painful memories.'
Vivian, now married with a daughter, Luna, says: 'I was just 22 and had been in the UK three months when Jean died. I was just a countryside girl and he was my safety, so when I lost him my ground went from under me. My whole world fell apart.
'I didn't really have time to grieve because we had to deal with all the bureaucracy, the polemic and the injustice. I don't know how I survived.'
She says she now wants to remember the way Jean lived his life, not the way he died.
'He was such a happy person, an extrovert who would laugh and joke and got on with everyone. He was a dreamer. He wanted to make the best use of his life but above all he wanted to help people and make his family proud.
'I remember him all the time but especially at times when I wished he were still here, like when my daughter was born. He still appears in my dreams, the Jean we loved and knew so well. He'll never be forgotten.'
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But why were we in that position? Those people in command put me in that position, they also have to answer.' His apology is of little comfort to the de Menezes family. Among those are Jean Charles' cousins, Patricia Da Silva Armani and Vivian Figueiredo, who he was sharing a flat with at the time. Speaking to us, Patricia, 51, remembers the last time she saw her younger cousin alive, two days before he died. READ MORE: 'There are three of us in our marriage - me, Gem and the 7/7 bomber' She said: 'I'd just got back from work and he was getting ready to go out. We had coffee together, and he told me about a new job he was going to start on the Friday, putting in electrical installations in a building. He'd been washing dishes in a restaurant until then. 'He was really excited about it, the happiest I'd ever seen him. It was well paid and he felt his life was finally on the way up. 'He said goodbye and went to leave but for some reason when he got to the door he turned round and came and gave me a big hug and a kiss. 'We were close but that took me by surprise. I said to him, 'Oh, how delicious!' Now off you go to work' and he went. The next time I saw Jean was at the morgue.' Jean was on his way to the new job on the Friday morning when police started following him, believing he was one of the four men who had failed to detonate bombs on the capital's transport system the day before. One of the terrorists, Hussein Osman, lived in the same building as the three cousins. Patricia and Vivian heard about the shooting on the news, and later that the suspect had been an innocent Brazilian, but they never imagined it was Jean. Vivian, 42, woke up the following morning, still unaware. 'Everything was so silent at the house. I knocked on Jean's bedroom door, no answer,' she said. 'So I slowly opened the door. The bed was made, everything was neat and tidy. I just thought, 'Jean probably didn't come home last night'.' But then there was a knock at the door from two of Jean's friends who police had visited in the early hours. 'They told them he was suspected of terrorism and had been arrested,' she recalled. 'I was shocked. But I also had hope. It was just a matter of going to the police to clarify everything.' Vivian and Patricia were taken to the police station, where two other cousins, Alex Alves Pereira and Alessandro Pereira, were already waiting. Patricia remembered: 'Alex was really agitated. He kept saying, 'They f***ed up, they f***ed up'. He'd already joined the dots, I thought he had been arrested. They took us to a room and sat us down around a table. 'My English wasn't great and I didn't understand a lot of what they were saying. I only understood the last part – 'He is dead'. Still, I didn't think I'd heard right. 'I turned round to one of the others and he took my hand. His hand was freezing. He told me Jean was the Brazilian who had been shot dead. I went into total despair. Everyone was crying and screaming.' They were then taken to the morgue to identify Jean Charles' body. Patricia recalled: 'He was already arranged and dressed up. That's when I became ill and fainted. The next thing I remember is me sitting on a sofa with a policewoman trying to calm me down. 'I later heard that Alex and Vivian barged into the room and grabbed Jean's body. So it was very tense.' The family pursued fruitless legal action and no officers were charged, although the Met was found guilty of health and safety failures. Patricia added: 'For months I lived in shock. I wasn't able to hear a police siren without shaking. I'd get scared whenever I see policemen on the street. Even today when I'm on the tube, I'm constantly thinking about how I should escape if anything happens. 'For the first years, I thought about Jean every day and I would cry every day. This year has brought back a lot of the trauma and painful memories.' Vivian, now married with a daughter, Luna, says: 'I was just 22 and had been in the UK three months when Jean died. I was just a countryside girl and he was my safety, so when I lost him my ground went from under me. My whole world fell apart. 'I didn't really have time to grieve because we had to deal with all the bureaucracy, the polemic and the injustice. I don't know how I survived.' She says she now wants to remember the way Jean lived his life, not the way he died. 'He was such a happy person, an extrovert who would laugh and joke and got on with everyone. He was a dreamer. He wanted to make the best use of his life but above all he wanted to help people and make his family proud. 'I remember him all the time but especially at times when I wished he were still here, like when my daughter was born. He still appears in my dreams, the Jean we loved and knew so well. He'll never be forgotten.'
