London's police force went on trial yesterday, accused of violating health and safety laws during an anti-terrorist operation that ended in the fatal shooting of a Brazilian electrician mistaken for a suicide bomber.
The Metropolitan Police force is expected to plead not guilty to a charge stemming from the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot seven times in the head aboard a London subway train in July 2005.
Prosecutors will ask why de Menezes -- mistakenly identified as a terrorist suspect -- was able to leave his home, board a public bus and enter the subway system, where he was gunned down at close range by armed officers.
Prosecutors have charged the force as a whole with failing to preserve public safety during the operation, but ruled out criminal charges against any officers.
The case raises important questions about how far rules to protect employees in the workplace should apply to police officers and other members of the emergency services. De Menezes was killed amid a huge police manhunt, a day after five men attempted to detonate explosives-filled backpacks on London's transit system on July 21, 2005.
That attack failed. But two weeks earlier, 52 people died and hundreds were injured when suicide bombers struck three subway trains and a bus.
The police force has accepted its responsibility in de Menezes' death, but the Independent Police Complaints Commission has ruled out action against any officers.
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