Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has attacked claims by former Met officer Brian Paddick that he was told the man shot by police at Stockwell tub station "was a ‘Brazilian tourist" by two of Sir Ian Blair’s closest aides on the day of the shooting.
The claims are made in an interview in today’s Mail on Sunday which reports "Paddick is adamant that the calamity was common knowledge among Sir Ian’s aides."
The former Deputy Assistant Commissioner tells the paper "Blair said that he and everyone who advised him believed the dead man to have been a suicide bomber for 24 hours after his death. It was quite clear to me this was not true. I didn’t know what to do. I found the dilemma between loyalty and personal integrity almost unbearable."
On Thursday the Independent Police Complaints Commission announced the conclusions of their investigation into the shooting. The Commission found "no evidence of misconduct" on the part of Sir Ian and and that the complaint made against him by the de Menezes family could not be substantiated.
Reacting to the comments Mr Livingstone said "it is not serious for Brian Paddick to make all sorts of claims in the press at this stage, when a lengthy IPCC investigation has gone into this matter and already exonerated the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police."
"Most people reading Brian Paddick’s account, in which he claims he had information that the person who had been shot was not a terrorist suspect but sat in a meeting with Sir Ian and said nothing, would conclude that Mr Paddick has no good basis for criticising anyone."
Earlier this week it was reported that Mr Paddick hopes to become the Liberal Democrat candidate in next year’s Mayoral elections. In 2003 he won "substantial" damages from the Mail on Sunday following publication of claims about his private life.
Link: Mail on Sunday
