The mother of a man shot dead at a Tube station after being mistaken for a terrorist says “everyone should watch” a new drama about the killing.
Jean Charles de Menezes was shot seven times by two police marksmen at Stockwell Underground station on 22 July 2005 – two weeks after the 7/7 London bombings.
The 27-year-old British electrician had been wrongly identified as one of the fugitives involved in another failed bombing attempt a day earlier.
Would-be suicide bombers had targeted the transport network on 21 July, but their devices failed to explode.
No officers were ever prosecuted for the killing but the Met Police was fined for breaching health and safety laws.
Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes will be released on Disney+ on 30 April – with the four-part drama exploring the days following the 7/7 attack, and police investigations leading up to his death.
It stars Line of Duty’s Daniel Mays and Being Human’s Russell Tovey.
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Maria de Menezes, who flew to London ahead of the programme’s release, shared the moment she found out about her son’s death.
“I was not expecting that moment,” she said. “It was terrible and then I started to shake. I sort of died then too.”
Speaking at a preview screening, writer and executive producer Jeff Pope told the audience Mrs de Menezes said she watched the show and felt ill for three days.
He said: “I genuinely believe from being in the room that day with her, they’ve been waiting 20 years for this. I honestly think that. It’s just eaten away at them.
“We spent a lot of time with them. By necessity, it was by Zoom.
“We spent many hours talking about their lives and then we got onto the more painful stuff and they were very open and honest all the way through.”
Mr Pope added: “Lessons have already been learned but we needed that 20 years ago. His family needed that 20 years ago.
“There’s such an appetite for audiences in the UK for this type of piece. I just think we like to get angry. We don’t like being told something that we know or sense doesn’t seem right.”
In 2016, the family lost a human rights challenge over the decision not to charge any police officer over the fatal shooting.
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A spokesperson for the Met Police said: “The circumstances around his death, which came at a time of unprecedented terrorist threat to London, have been subject to numerous public inquiries, including two separate reports by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (now the IOPC), which examined all of the evidence surrounding his death and the actions of officers in the aftermath.
“The recommendations made by the IPCC were implemented immediately following these reports, and in the 19 years since this tragic incident, we continue to proactively improve our processes and policies wherever possible to keep our communities safe.
“No officer sets out on duty intent on ending a life. Our sole purpose is the complete opposite – the protection and preservation of life – and we have taken extensive action to address the causes of this tragedy.”
