[JURIST] The UK Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) [official website] issued a report [PDF text] Thursday on the shooting death of Jean Charles de Menezes [advocacy website; BBC profile], an innocent Brazilian man mistaken for a terrorist by police in July 2005, clearing London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair of any misconduct but concluding that Assistant Commissioner Andrew Hayman [official profiles] misled his colleagues and the public about the killing shortly after it occurred. The IPCC found that:

AC Hayman’s actions in relation to his briefing the [Crime Reporters Association (CRA)] and then misleading the attendees at the 17:00hrs Management Board meeting and sub-meeting led to inaccurate or misleading information being released by the MPS. AC Hayman either misled the public when he briefed the CRA that the deceased was not one of the four or when he allowed the 18:44hrs 22 July press release to state that it was not known if the deceased was one of the four. He could not have believed both inconsistent statements were true.

The IPCC went on to recommend that the Metropolitan Police clarify the protocol for handling critical information among senior management and take appropriate action against those who do not follow the standards.

Menezes was mistakenly killed by police who thought they were pursuing a suspect in the July 21 London transit bombing attempts [JURIST reports]. In May this year, the IPCC said that the officers who shot Menezes would not face disciplinary action [IPCC report] after British prosecutors decided not to bring individual charges [JURIST report] against them. BBC News has more. Reuters has additional coverage.