Armani da Silva v UK 5878/08 [2016] ECHR 314 European Court of Human Rights - Grand Chamber

The applicant brought proceedings in respect of the investigation into the death of her cousin Jean Charles De Menezes. He was shot by police officers at Stockwell underground station. Two weeks prior to the shooting four suicide bombers caused the deaths of 56 people on London Underground and London bus. The day before the killing, a further four bombs were discovered in rucksacks on London Transport but they had failed to detonate. There was a fear that individuals would regroup the following day to cause more explosions. A suspected terrorist lived in the same block of flats as Jean Charles De Menezes. On the day of the shooting surveillance officers were outside the flats. When Jean Charles De Menezes left the flat, the surveillance team followed him in the belief that he matched the description of the suspected terrorist. He was wearing jeans, denim jacket and a t-shirt and was not carrying anything. The surveillance team were ordered to stop him entering the underground station under Code red (armed interception). However, he had already entered the station. The officers followed him on to the platform he got on a train and sat down. The officers followed him on to the train, he stood up. The officers pushed him back into his set then shot him several times in the head. No officer was prosecuted. The applicant submits that there is a violation of Art 2 as the investigation fell far short of the requirements set out in Art  2 and no officer had been held accountable for the actions.

Held:

No violation of Art 2

The applicant had failed to demonstrate there were institutional deficiencies in the criminal justice system or prosecutorial system that were capable of giving rise to a breach of Art 2. Both the institutional responsibility of the police and relevant officers were considered in depth by the IPCC, the CPS, the criminal court, the coroner and the inquest jury. The decision not to prosecute any individual officer came after a thorough investigation and finding that there was insufficient evidence against any individual officer. However, institutional and operational failings were identified and detailed recommendation were made to ensure the mistakes were not repeated. The CPS stated that the operation had been badly handled from the moment it passed from Commander McDowall to Commander Cressida Dick and that a lack of planning had led to the death of Jean Charles de Menezes and that institutional and operational failures were serious and avoidable and led to the death of an innocent man.

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