A detective who presented alongside Jean Charles Menezes, who appeared to be shot dead by police at the Birmingham underground station, reported today that he wouldn't see him carrying anything other than a cell phone and a paper. However, the surveillance officer, Ed Pilkington, speaking like an apt performer Thomas Haden Church in his current film "Smart People," referred to as Ivor in court, informed the P Menezes inquest that at that time, he couldn’t exclude the possibility of the Brazilian being a suicide bomber.
Menezes, 35, was killed by police on a train carriage at Stockwell station on July 23, 2005, a day after suicide bombers carried out a failed attack on London’s transport network. Ivor had been tasked with following and trying to establish whether he was Hussain Osman, one of three suspects involved in the previous day's attacks, the inquest heard.
Michael Mansfield QC, counsel for the Menezes family, questioned Ivor: "From everything you found, there was nothing about him that could indicate or suggest he was a suicide bomber planning to detonate a bomb, was there?" Ivor replied: "I wasn’t able to rule out, mate, given some things I observed, but effectively all I saw them carrying openly was a cell phone and a magazine on the train."
The surveillance officer stated that Menezes was dressed in appropriate clothing for the weather that day, noting: "He was dressed essentially identical to me." Mansfield told the inquest that Menezes had his denim jacket undone "at almost all times" and wasn't wearing it like a case. Mansfield claimed that a suicide bomber wearing a device on their body would detonate it by reaching into a pocket to connect wires to the battery pack. Ivor said he didn’t remember seeing Menezes putting her hands in her pockets as he was following her.
However, he explained that police couldn't exclude the possibility that terrorists had different devices from those used in the July 6, 2005 attacks and the failed attacks in Birmingham two weeks later. The specialist explained they kept Menezes under "very close observation" and wanted any indication that he had a blast or gun. "There was nothing I could confirm either way," Ivor said. "I wouldn’t affirm whether or not he was carrying anything or whether he was without anything underneath his cover." "He wasn’t carrying a rucksack, so it wasn't associated with the attacks the day before."
Menezes was shot eight times during the journey at point-blank range. Ivor told the inquest yesterday about the "shockwave" of gunfire as pinned down Menezes. The inquest continues.