Family anger over Menezes review

Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead on a Tube train at Stockwell

No police officers will be prosecuted over the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

It follows a review of new evidence which came to light at his inquest.

Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot dead by police at Stockwell Tube station in south London after he was mistaken for one of the failed 21 July 2005 bombers.

A spokeswoman for the Justice 4 Jean campaign said she was "absolutely furious" with the decision.

In December, an inquest jury returned an open verdict - rejecting the police view that he was killed lawfully.

Stephen O'Doherty, the lawyer who led the CPS review, said: "I have now concluded that there is insufficient evidence that any offence was committed by any individual officers in relation to the tragic death of Mr de Menezes."

'Inconsistencies'

The officers, known as Charlie 2 and Charlie 12, told the inquest they had shouted a warning at Mr de Menezes and he had continued moving towards them.

But passengers at the inquest had said this was not the case, and the jury did not accept the officers' accounts.

Mr O'Doherty said: "Although there were some inconsistencies in what the officers said at the inquest, there were also inconsistencies in what passengers had said.

"I concluded that in the confusion of what occurred on the day, a jury could not be sure that any officer had deliberately given a false account of events."

It's unbelievable that the CPS had taken this decision without talking to the family or their representatives Yasmin Khan Justice 4 Jean

Mr O'Doherty said there was no fresh evidence presented to the inquest to make him reconsider an earlier decision not to prosecute senior officers for negligence.

He has written to Mr de Menezes' family to explain the decision, he added.

Yasmin Khan of the Justice 4 Jean campaign described the CPS decision as "morally reprehensible and legally wrong".

She said: "It's unbelievable that the CPS had taken this decision without talking to the family or their representatives."

A statement added: "The family in Brazil have no idea yet, and this will come as a great shock to them. It is deeply insensitive that they were not given any advance warning or opportunity to comment."

The campaign's legal team had just drafted representation to the CPS to ask them to consider prosecutions, it added.

It had also asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to meet with the Menezes family. It said it would continue to request this.