Robert Winnett and David Leppard (Extracted from "Met boss I may be forced to quit", The Sunday Times, 16 October 2005)

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has admitted he may soon be forced to resign over the shooting of an innocent Brazilian man on the London Underground. Britain's top policeman told a private gathering of business leaders and officials last week that he might have to go fairly soon over the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.

[Ed When a posse of hysterical policemen follow a man with dark skin from a cheap lodging house going to work, assume he is an Arab terrorist, pin him to the ground and then pump seven bullets (or is it 9 or 11 according to various sources?) into his brain in full view of passengers on the London Underground at Stockwell Station then of course someone should at least resign. The policemen had been encouraged by a badly-worded directive from their chief only on the previous day. And on the day after the shooting, the same Police Commissioner tried to prevent an independent enquiry being started. Of course, Sir Ian Blair should resign. And perhaps attempts should be made thereafter to recruit more intelligent policemen in the future, particularly those who are armed with deadly weapons.]