Police In Human Rights Court For Killing Innocent Man After Subway Bombings

Family members of Jean Charles de Menezes who was fataly shot by british police in a London underground station in 2005 : Erionaldo da Silva, left, Alessandro Peirera, center, and Vivian Figueiredo stand as the court... Family members of Jean Charles de Menezes who was fataly shot by british police in a London underground station in 2005 : Erionaldo da Silva, left, Alessandro Peirera, center, and Vivian Figueiredo stand as the court enters at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday , June 10, 2015. The British government is on trial at the European Court of Human Rights over the death of a 27-year-old electrician, shot by police who thought he was a terrorist in the tense aftermath of deadly 2005 London subway bombings. (AP Photo/Christian Lutz) MORE LESS
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PARIS (AP) — The British government went on trial Wednesday at the European Court of Human Rights over the death of a 27-year-old Brazilian electrician, shot by police who thought he was a terrorist in the tense aftermath of deadly 2005 London subway bombings.

Jean Charles de Menezes’ death caused widespread indignation. A British police inquiry found internal mistakes about how authorities handled the case but no grounds to pursue a murder trial.

The victim’s cousin, Patricia Armani Da Silva, protested that decision and brought the case to the European court in Strasbourg, France. The court held the first full hearing in the case Wednesday after a decade of legal battles.

In court, a British government lawyer acknowledged that police failed and killed an innocent man, but argued the government has done all it can to address the police failures since then.

Suicide bombers attacked three London subway trains and a bus on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people. Two weeks later, other bombers tried to target the Tube again, but their devices didn’t explode.

Counterterrorism officers were pursuing suspects in the second attack when they mistook de Menezes for one of them, because he lived at the same address as two of the suspects.

Police shot him repeatedly in the head on July 22 as he tried to board a subway train on his way to work.

The next day Scotland Yard confirmed that he was unconnected to the suspected bombers. The Metropolitan Police was ordered to pay fines and damages but no one faced disciplinary action. A complex, high-profile inquest decided that there were no grounds for a murder charge.

“His death was the result of a series of serious operational failures by the Metropolitan Police. There is no doubt that his death could and should have been prevented,” British government lawyer Clare Montgomery told the court Wednesday.

But she argued the officers who killed de Menezes bore no personal responsibility for his death, arguing it was the result of an accumulation of errors.

In a separate civil case, British police reached a compensation deal in 2009 with his family for an undisclosed sum.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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