MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Family of de Menezes reaches compensation agreement with London police

Jean Charles de Menezes shot dead at Stockwell tube station mistaken for a failed suicide bomber

The family of Brazilian citizen Jean Charles de Menezes has agreed a compensation deal with the London Metropolitan Police. Relatives of the Brazilian have been locked in an often acrimonious legal battle with the force since he was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station on July 22, 2005.

But in a carefully-worded statement released on Monday, his family said “all litigation” between them and Scotland Yard has been resolved.

Members of the de Menezes family and activists in the Justice 4 Jean campaign declined to comment on the size of the settlement. But there was speculation it could be as little as £100,000, plus the substantial costs of the family's legal team.

It was claimed the payment may have been lower than expected because Mr de Menezes had no wife or children and came from a poor background.

Mr de Menezes, 27, was mistaken for failed suicide bomber Hussain Osman by surveillance and armed officers and shot dead. The shooting took place two weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 people in four explosions on the London transport network.

The last moments of Mr de Menezes' life as he left his Tulse Hill flat and travelled to the Tube station have been examined in minute detail. The shooting provoked a series of wide-ranging inquiries that hauled police tactics, supervision and individual decisions over the coals.

The Metropolitan Police was convicted of health and safety failures at the Old Bailey and fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £385,000 costs.

In a joint statement released by the Met, the de Menezes family said the agreement will allow them to “move forward with their lives”.