Tom Griffin (London, OK): The family of Jean Charles De Menezes withdrew from the inquest into his death yesterday after coroner Sir Michael Wright refused to allow the jury to consider an unlawful killing verdict.
The Justice4Jean blog has a statement of their reasons:
For three and a half years we have had one simple request, that all the evidence be put in front of the jury and for them to be allowed to decide.
We have faced a system which has repeatedly blocked, silenced and stopped all the avenues we have tried in order to get justice. And now we face the situation that after three months, 100 witnesses and a cost of £3 million pounds, the jury is being restricted from considering all the options. We have full confidence in the jury to return a verdict that will deliver justice for Jean. The jury have the legal right to return any verdict they want to and we hope that these 11 ordinary members of the public will do the right thing.
Adrian Monck notes the remarkable similiarities with another controversial inquest, the one into the Metropolitan Police shooting of Harry Stanley.
