Menezes image 'dishonestly changed'

The picture, containing half the face of innocent Brazilian Mr de Menezes and half the face of terrorist Osman was produced at the force's Old Bailey trial. It was claimed to illustrate the difficulties officers would have had in differentiating the two.

But Clare Montgomery QC, prosecuting, told the court that it had been altered "by either stretching or resizing so the face ceases to have its correct proportions".

The judge, Mr Justice Henriques, told the jury: "A serious allegation has been made that a picture has been manipulated so as to mislead."

Police are accused of a "catastrophic" series of errors leading to the shooting of Mr de Menezes, 27, on July 22, 2005 after he was mistaken for Osman.

A forensics consultant, Michael George, told the court that the composite could not have been produced using Powerpoint software, and appeared to have a "greater definition" than the two used to produce it. He produced an alternative composite, shown to the jury, in which the two faces have different skin tones and their mouths and noses are not aligned.

The court heard that the images were taken from a 2001 identity card photograph of Mr de Menezes and a photo of Hussain taken by police in Rome.

Mr George said that in the police composite, the picture of the Brazilian appeared to be have been brightened and lost definition as compared to the original.

The brightening also appeared to have "got rid of the definition of some of the characteristics" which could be seen in the original picture, including areas around the left nostril and the chin, he said.

Ronald Thwaites QC, defending, asked Mr George whether there had been any manipulation "of the primary features of the face". Mr George replied: "I don't believe there has been any ... but making the image brighter has changed the image."