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De Menezes compensation 'cut because his family is poor'
Peter Dominiczak23.11.09
The family of Jean Charles de Menezes are set to receive a reduced compensation package from Scotland Yard because they are so poor, according to reports.
Today it was claimed that the family of the Brazilian, who was mistaken for a suicide bomber and shot seven times in the head at Stockwell Tube station, may receive only around £100,000.
It is alleged that lawyers for Scotland Yard and the family have reached an out-of-court settlement.
Although the amount is covered by a confidentiality clause, it has been alleged that it would have been much higher if Mr de Menezes, 27, had left a widow and children or came from a wealthy family.
But when he died on 22 June in 2005, his parents were living in a one-bedroom house deep in the Brazilian rainforest.
The family's lawyers had suggested they would claim £300,000 from the Metropolitan Police for the operation that led to their son being killed but it now appears the final pay-out will be a fraction of that sum.
Former Met chief Sir Ian Blair, who faced calls to resign after the shooting of Mr de Menezes was given a £400,000 pay-off when he left Scotland Yard.
The parents of Stephen Lawrence received £300,000 in compensation for the police mistakes that left his killers free and Colin Stagg was paid £706,000 in state compensation - not by the police - after years of being wrongly suspected of murdering Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common.
The de Menezes family have so far received only £15,000 from Scotland Yard to cover flying their son's body home and the costs of his funeral.
As he was not officially the victim of a crime, they are not entitled to criminal injuries compensation. Negotiations with Scotland Yard on a final payment reportedly began last week and a deal is expected to be confirmed in the next few days.
Mr de Menezes was shot dead after anti-terror police mistook him for bomber Hussain Osman.
Osman and four fellow terrorists had gone on the run the previous day after trying to copy the 7 July London bomb attacks that killed 52 people and injured 977.
At the inquest on Mr de Menezes last December, the jury returned an open verdict after the coroner told them that there was insufficient evidence to rule that Mr de Menezes was unlawfully killed.
It has been claimed that legal costs for the inquest are expected to reach £8million.
Meanwhile, Sir Ian Blair has received criticism after it emerged that he is set to make a six-figure sum from his memoirs, Policing Controversy.
In a recent interview to promote the book, Sir Ian claimed that had the two marksmen that shot Mr de Menezes not killed the wrong man, they could have been candidates for George Medals.
Other payouts by the Met
Colin Stagg
The former prime suspect for the murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common in 1992 received £706,000 compensation from the Home Office. He was charged with murder in 1993 but acquitted in October 1994 when the case was thrown out at the Old Bailey. However for years Mr Stagg's name was linked to the killing.
The parents of Stephen Lawrence
Neville and Doreen Lawrence received £320,000 from the Met over the mistakes that hampered the hunt for their teenage son's killers. The couple, now divorced, made financial demands for loss of earnings.
The family of Victoria Climbie
The Met paid an undisclosed six-figure sum to the family of Victoria Climbie, the eight-year-old girl from the Ivory Coast murdered by her guardians. Scotland Yard reached an out-of-court settlement after massive failings by police and social services came to light.
Stephen Waldorf
Mr Waldorf was shot and severely injured in 1983 by Met officers who mistook him for an armed criminal suspected of attempting to murder a colleague. He was shot five times in the head and body and was subsequently given £150,000 in compensation.
Reader views (14)
Measuring the value of a human life in terms of its earning potential is obscene! It also means that all kinds of supposedly "professional" and "responsible" people are absolved of the responsibility for their negligent actions when dealing with certain groups of people on the fringes of society, such as the poor, disabled, and disadvantaged. My own brother died as a result of clinical negligence, yet in law, his life had little or no monetary value as he had no estate and no dependents. For a bereaved family, such as the De Menezes, the quantity of money offered has no real significance, and is only relevant in that for it to be sufficient, it must make the family feel that the value placed on their loved ones head was what that person was worth to them. For most families I would take a guess that the figure offered will always feel insufficient, because from an emotional standpoint, the value that could make reparation for that loss is one of pricelessness.
- Jules, Rotherham
I felt desperately sorry for the family when they were all officially invited over here, four and a half years ago, for all ceremonies of official sympathy. Surely they've milked this unfortunate accident enough by now and should go home? They've received more money from the UK than if he'd been run over by a police car!
And please can we now get rid of that third world 'memorial' from outside Stockwell tube?
- Richard, London
it's the rich wot gets the pleasure...it's the poor wo gets the blame...
- Phil, castres france
So if he'd been rich they'd have increased the compensation? Unbelievable.
- David, Teddington
Why should it make any difference whether they are rich or poor? The compensation should be standard, regardless of the financial status of the family.I also find it quite unbelievable that they have had to wait all this time and still not received any proper compensation.One can only imagine the pain that Mr de Menezes' family have had to endure.
- Angie, Kent
Utterly unsurprised to see one injustice superimposed upon another. Whoever makes these rules should learn a bit of compassion. The De Menezes family will never get justice. Britain should hang its head in shame.
- Peace Maker, Battersea
outrageous; death on the cheap.
soon enough the man with the gun will ask what the potential victim's economic and social circumstances are,
consult a chart of the sliding scale of compensation, before deciding whether, or not to pull the trigger.
- M.O'Brien, london.uk
So Garry, a man's worth in this world is judged by how much money he or his family have. He was killed here, by British police and as such the payment should match that which would be paid to a citizen of this country. By this measure, had this been the son of an oil sheik, would the polce be expected to make a payment of billions?
"HAD the two marksmen not killed the wrong man, they could have been candidates for George Medals". Should we not be more concerned about what Mr de Menezes might have become if they hadn't shot him.
- Barry, Welwyn England
One law for the Rich and another for the poor in this country ?now there is a law and money for a person who should not have been in the country !
- Brian, barry wales
The family should be entited to compensation, however, this payment should not be confused blame.
- Porky Pies, Land of Make Believe, London
And the gung ho thugs that did it get holidays and compo for their trauma, the daft cressida Dick gets promoted, and the head gets a fortune.
Britons when are you going to wake up and sort this mess out? And I don't mean by getting the Tories in, that will exacerbate the problem.
- Kerry Trubee, Purley
"HAD the two marksmen not killed the wrong man, they could have been candidates for George Medals". That's a pretty big HAD.
- Bloke, Lambeth
Seems about right to me, because of the poverty in Brazil, they will now be wealthy in their country. While the whole situation is a tragic it is not for the taxpayer to make them fabulously wealthy, regardless of where they come from.
- Garry, london
It has always been the case that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor in this country.
This is just another case to be put on the list of shame.
- Mr S.Port, London
