Menezes: Met terror boss 'will keep job'

Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman was criticised by an independent police watchdog for failing to pass on information suggesting marksmen shot dead an innocent man as they hunted wanted suicide bombers.

His case will now be considered by the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and he could face a disciplinary tribunal.

Mr Hayman has won backing from his boss Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith as well as Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Insiders say that he is expected to escape with a reprimand when his position is considered by the police authority in the coming months.

Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot seven times by police marksmen after surveillance officers mistakenly identified him as one of the 21 July bombers.

The IPCC report - called Stockwell 2 - examined how the Met dealt with the aftermath of the event. The Met goes on trial over the shooting in October, accused of breaching health and safety laws.

The Commissioner escaped serious criticism in the report, but was accused of being "almost totally uninformed" of events following the death of the innocent Brazilian.

Even off-duty officers at a cricket match and secretaries in Sir Ian's office heard rumours that the victim was unconnected to terrorism before the Commissioner, the report said.

The family of Mr de Menezes branded Scotland Yard "not fit for purpose" in the wake of the damning report. Relatives said it was "unbelievable" Sir Ian did not know that an innocent man had been killed that day.

The IPCC found "serious weaknesses" in how the Met handled critical information fol lowing the shooting at Stockwell tube station.

The investigation was launched after relatives complained the force had deliberately tried to mislead the public.

While the report revealed confusion as police struggled to cope with the aftermath of the terror attacks, it cleared the force of deliberately lying.

Mr Hayman was singled out for misleading the public when he failed to give details about what he knew of the dead man's identity to a meeting attended by the Commissioner.

The Assistant Commissioner has argued that the identity of the dead man had still not been confirmed at that stage.

Sir Ian said he was sorry for the shortcomings the report highlighted in his force but stood by Mr Hayman.

MPA member Damian Hockney said: "Mr Hayman has been made a scapegoat and the absurd idea that he made a catastrophic error of judgment simply does not appear to be borne out by the facts."