Charles de Menezes family accept compensation from British police

Nov 23, 2009, 15:28 GMT

   London - The family of a Brazilian man shot dead by British police who mistook him for a terrorist agreed Monday to a compensation deal which they said would draw a final line under the tragic affair.

   Relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes have been locked in a legal battle with Scotland Yard ever since special anti-terrorism police killed the 27-year-old on an underground (tube) train on July 22, 2005.

   They said in a statement Monday that 'all litigation' between them and Scotland Yard had now been resolved. They hoped that the settlement would allow them to 'move forward with their lives.'

The amount involved was not disclosed.

   Ian Blair, the former Scotland Yard commissioner in charge at the time of the shooting, had made a further 'unreserved apology to the family' and reiterated that Jean Charles de Menezes was a 'totally innocent victim and in no way to blame for his untimely death.'

   The shooting took place two weeks after the suicide attack on London's Undergound and bus network in which 52 people died and more than 700 were injured.

   The shooting provoked widespread outrage and prompted a series of inquiries and court cases. Blair resigned early from his post at the end of a public inquiry into the death a year ago.

   The Metropolitan Police was convicted of health and safety failures but no individual officers were prosecuted.