Menezes image was 'manipulated to mislead'

An image showing Jean Charles de Menezes and Hussain Osman was dishonestly manipulated to mislead a jury, a court has heard.

The picture, containing half the face of innocent Brazilian Mr de Menezes and half the face of terrorist Osman, was shown to a jury by lawyers for the Metropolitan Police at the Old Bailey trial.

It was claimed to illustrate the difficulties officers would have had in differentiating the two.

But Clare Montgomery QC, prosecuting, told the court that it had been altered "by either stretching or resizing so the face ceases to have its correct proportions".

The judge, Mr Justice Henriques, told the jury: "A serious allegation has been made that a picture has been manipulated so as to mislead."

Police are accused of a "catastrophic" series errors leading to the shooting of Mr de Menezes, 27, on July 22 2005, after he was mistaken for Osman.

Forensics consultant, Michael George, told the court that the composite could not have been produced using Powerpoint software, and appeared to have a "greater definition" than the two used to produce it.

He produced an alternative composite, shown to the jury, in which the two faces have different skin tones and their mouths and noses are not aligned.

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