Sir Ian 'considered resigning'

Thursday, 22 September 2005 12:00 AM

The head of the Metropolitan police considered resigning after the shooting of an innocent Brazilian by his officers, who mistakenly thought he was a suicide bomber.

Sir Ian Blair yesterday admitted that his force should have reacted more quickly to dismiss unfounded suggestions that Jean Charles de Menezes was wearing a heavy jacket and vaulted over the ticket barrier while running away from police.

"It was a mistake not to have corrected the misinformation. I wish we'd done that sooner. That I regret," he told the BBC's Hardtalk.

Police shot dead the 27-year-old electrician at Stockwell tube station on July 22nd - the day after several failed bomb attempts across London.

Asked if he had considered stepping down after the incident, Sir Ian told the programme: "Yes. If somebody makes those comments you are not just going to brush it off.

"No one in their right mind would be arrogant enough to rule it out."

But he said he decided against resigning as it was better for him to stick with the "big job" of defending Britain from terrorism.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is continuing to investigate the incident.

Earlier in the day, Sir Ian hinted that soldiers leaving the army could be recruited by police as firearms officers.

Speaking at the Police Superintendents' Association conference in Warwickshire, he said that, in response to the terrorist threat facing the country, police need to be "bold enough" to discuss short-term contracts for those exterior to the force.

"Could we bring staff directly in from the armed services, to use that as an example, give them a small amount of basic training and then clear instructions as to their role on firearms duty?" Sir Ian said.

He went on to suggest that other short-term contracts could be handed to financial investigators, mounted officers, underwater search teams and surveillance officers.

The Met commissioner suggested that police would be unable to present a strong counter-terrorist front while dealing with other crime, unless bold changes were made.

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