Non-Subscriber Extract
Watchdog criticises Met over implementation of counterterrorism strategy
09 November 2007
The most 'fundamental problem' on the day of the Stockwell shooting was the failed implementation of a Met counterterrorism surveillance operation, a police watchdog report has said.
Nick Hardwick, chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, made the comments on 8 November as the IPCC published its long-awaited Stockwell 1 report into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes on 22 July 2005.
During the course of a major Met counterterrorism operation to find the four would-be bombers from the previous day [21 July 2005], a surveillance operation was mounted on a block of flats in Scotia Road, London.
When Mr de Menezes left the premises, he was followed by officers in the mistaken belief that he was one of the men suspected of being involved in the failed attack.
Commenting on the report's findings, Mr Hardwick said: 'The most fundamental problem on that Friday [22 July 2005] was the implementation of the strategy set by Cdr John McDowall, the gold commander, that everyone leaving the [Scotia Road] premises was to be stopped once they were a safe distance away and questioned either for the intelligence they could provide or as a suspect.