Firearms officer who shot Jean Charles de Menezes speaks out for the first time

A firearms serviceman who killed the Brazilian during a bungled cognition successful the aftermath of the July 7 London bombings tells a caller documentary: 'I knew I had to instrumentality that shot'

A constabulary marksman who changeable an guiltless antheral wrongly suspected of being a termination bomber has said: "Everything told maine that I was going to die."

Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was killed by constabulary successful Stockwell presumption successful southbound London connected 22 July 2005, pursuing the bombings successful the superior earlier that month. One of the firearms officers progressive has spoken publically for the archetypal clip for Channel 4's Shoot To Kill: Terror On The Tube aft remaining anonymous since the killing.

The balding and bespectacled dada is not named but appears connected camera talking successful item astir the bungled operation. Police were successful pursuit of 4 suspects progressive successful attempted bombings the erstwhile day, targeting 3 conduit stations and a bus, erstwhile Mr de Menezes was mistaken for 1 of them.

The Brazilian electrician was changeable 7 times astatine adjacent scope successful the caput and erstwhile successful the enarthrosis by the erstwhile serviceman and his colleague, known lone arsenic C2. He said of the infinitesimal helium opened fire: "I americium expecting an detonation astatine immoderate minute, he's going to blow, we're going to die.

"That's the nub of it. If I don't bash thing present we are each going to die. I knew I had to take that shot. Time seemed to dilatory down. I retrieve seeing the shots going successful but past having to adjacent my eyes due to the fact that of the unit of the explosion."

A "deafening soundlessness and a existent stillness" followed earlier the officer, known arsenic C12, fired a last shot. He said: "I didn't spot immoderate question and I thought we had stopped this weaponry from going off." The ex-cop said helium aboriginal realised helium was covered "from caput to foot" successful "blood and debris".

"There was nary elation, thing similar that, it was conscionable that we've been done thing and we're here, we survived." C12, who precocious retired from the Met Police aft 40 years service, added: "What happened..I volition person to unrecorded with for the remainder of my life. Everything told maine that I was going to die."

Mr de Menezes was connected his mode to enactment erstwhile helium was tailed by surveillance officers from his location successful Tulse Hill arsenic helium got connected a bus. He had the misfortune to unrecorded successful a artifact of flats detectives had linked to 1 of the bombers, Hussain Osman. Mixed messages from officers appeared to confirm, past cull and past corroborate that helium was the bomber. As Mr de Menezes approached Stockwell underground presumption specializer equipped officers were told to halt him getting connected a train. C12 followed him down into the conduit station, vaulting the barriers.

He said: "I retrieve thinking, who americium I looking for, trying to callback that idiosyncratic successful the photograph that I had had astir a 10 2nd glimpse of." He looked astatine the conduit waiting astatine the level and helium saw a ft successful 1 of the doors and correctly assumed it was a surveillance colleague.

C12 said: "As soon arsenic I took 1 measurement connected that conduit helium spun astir and indicated to a idiosyncratic sitting connected the other country and said 'that's him'. So things happened really, really, truly rapidly astatine this stage. As soon arsenic the surveillance serviceman pointed astatine this idiosyncratic that antheral stood up but it was the mode that helium stood up that triggered thing successful my caput that wasn't right.

"He had his hands, they were astir hovering supra his knees and arsenic helium stood up helium didn't usage thing to propulsion himself disconnected the seat helium conscionable got up and instantly turned to his close which is wherever we were and came towards us. At the aforesaid clip I brought my limb up and pointed astatine his caput and I shouted 'armed police'. At that stage, successful my head, this idiosyncratic knew who we were. This person, by the mode they got up, was coming guardant successful a mode to detonate a weaponry and termination us. He inactive continued connected his guardant momentum arsenic I had my limb up, pointing astatine his head."

He said the surveillance serviceman was holding Mr de Menezes, trying to pin his hands down. "I knew I had to instrumentality that changeable and I couldn't due to the fact that the surveillance officer's head's successful the mode truthful I person had to propulsion his caput retired of the mode successful bid to get connected people truthful I did that with my weapon and erstwhile his caput was wide I engaged with a fewer shots," C12 said.

In 2006, the Crown Prosecution Service decided that nary constabulary officers should beryllium prosecuted implicit the killing, but the Metropolitan Police was fined £175,000 with £385,000 costs aft being recovered blameworthy of endangering the public. The 2 portion documentary volition aerial connected Sunday and Monday.