Former Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick has confirmed his intention to seek the Liberal Democrat candidacy for Mayor of London.
Speaking at the weekend 49 year old Mr Paddick told the BBC “Londoners are frustrated because they (Police Community Support Officers) simply don’t have the powers” adding “what we need is police officers who can deal with the incident straight away.”
Last month he told the Mail on Sunday 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.
“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.”
Speaking at the time Mayor of London Ken 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.”
