Met chief rapped over de Menzes death

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has been heavily criticised by members of the force's governing body over the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.

Sir Ian Blair sat listening quietly through a damning Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) meeting where members voiced concerns about his leadership.

The handling of information by the Met chief and senior management over the shooting was roundly criticised.

MPA member Richard Barnes told Sir Ian that he was "distressed" that the Met chief lacked "an inquiring mind" in the crucial hours after Mr de Menezes was shot eight times in a botched counter-terrorism operation on July 22, 2005.

He said: "There are such major questions within this that I have really deep-seated concerns about the leadership of the Metropolitan Police."

But Sir Ian defended his actions and told the MPA: "We got it appallingly wrong but we are not guilty of complete idiocy. My feeling is that if this happened again, the information would flow very differently."

The Commissioner insisted he would not resign over the matter, saying he hoped the public would judge his performance over his entire reign.

The shooting took place a day after the collapse of an attack on London's transport system by would-be suicide bombers and two weeks after the July 7 attacks.

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