'Menezes police's fatal change of mind'

Met commanders twice changed their minds in the moments before the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Old Bailey heard today.

As the Brazilian approached Stockwell Tube, surveillance officers were told to detain him before he entered the station.

But the order was changed seconds later by Commander Cressida Dick who said that firearms officers should carry out the arrest instead.

The decision led to the death of Mr de Menezes, who police believed was 21/7 bomber Hussain Osman, because the armed officers did not arrive until he was on a Tube train.

The confusion in the police operation emerged in evidence from senior anti-terrorist officer Detective Superintendent Jon Boutcher.

Mr Boutcher also told the jury that officers also changed their mind about whether Mr de Menezes was the terror suspect they were hunting.

The 27-year-old was shot seven times in the head on 22 July 2005 after being followed on to the Tube from a block of flats in Scotia Road, Tulse Hill, which police had under surveillance as it was linked to Osman.

The Met is being prosecuted under health and safety laws for a " catastrophic" failure to properly protect the public. It denies the charge.