The mother of an innocent man mistakenly shot dead by police on the London Underground has said she is finally able to forgive the officers who killed her son – but insists she will never accept the devastating events that followed.
Jean Charles de Menezes, a 29-year-old Brazilian electrician, was gunned down at Stockwell Tube station in South London on July 22 2005, after being wrongly identified as a terrorist suspect in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings.
At first, the police narrative suggested a suspected suicide bomber had been taken out before he could strike.
But within days, the official version began to unravel and it emerged that Jean Charles had been entirely innocent.
Now, nearly 20 years on, his 80-year-old mother Maria has spoken movingly about the heartbreak that has consumed her family – and revealed she has made peace with the officers who took her son's life, despite the lack of accountability.
Speaking from her home in Brazil, Maria told the Mirror: 'I forgive, but I cannot accept what they have done because they destroyed my son's life.
'But I've come to realise that I don't want to keep this hatred inside my heart. I believe those people who made the mistakes will pay for it somehow.
'They have souls, and I have entrusted it to God, as to what will happen to them. But I don't want this hatred for myself anymore, because I don't want this to destroy me.'
Now, nearly 20 years on, his 80-year-old mother Maria (above) has spoken movingly about the heartbreak that has consumed her family – and revealed she has made peace with the officers who took her son's life, despite the lack of accountability
Jean Charles de Menezes, a 29-year-old Brazilian electrician, was gunned down at Stockwell Tube station in South London on July 22 2005, after being wrongly identified as a terrorist suspect in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings
Tributes in memory of Jean Charles outside Stockwell underground station in 2005. Hewas shot seven times in the head at point-blank range
Jean Charles was shot seven times in the head at point-blank range in a packed carriage during the morning rush hour.
He had been followed by surveillance teams from his flat and wrongly linked to a failed Tube bombing the previous day.
All 17 eyewitnesses confirmed that he had not behaved aggressively or suspiciously and made no attempt to flee police.
But initial reports wrongly claimed he had vaulted station barriers while wearing a bulky jacket, fuelling assumptions he was a threat.
In the days and weeks after his death, Jean Charles' devastated family – who hail from a small rural community in Minas Gerais – were left to grapple not only with the shocking reality of his killing but also the wave of misinformation that followed.
Maria and her son Giovani have now travelled to London to support a new drama series on Disney+ titled Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.
The show aims to portray the truth about the botched operation and the chaos surrounding it.
Maria said the drama had brought some measure of comfort: 'It is hard to forgive, but this series is bringing some relief to us, revealing what the police did and all the lies. So this is helping a lot.
'I believe that whoever watches the series will understand and believe Jean Charles was innocent.'
Jean Charles had moved to London to build a better life and was sending money home to support his family. Before he left, he gave his mother a watch set to UK time so she would always know what time it was where he was.
His brother Giovani said:'We believed the police weren't properly trained. If they were, they would have stopped him before this terrible accident. So they did a very bad job, and people saw only what the police wanted to tell them.'
Matuzinhos Otone Da Silva and Maria De Menezes stand outside the Independent Police Complaints Commission in central London on Thursday, 29 September 2005
Brazilians Maria Otoni de Menezes (L), 60, and her husband Matozinho Otoni da Silva, 66, hold up photographs of their son, Jean Charles de Menezes in their home in the village of Gonzaga, Minas Gerais State, July 24, 2005
A British police officer stands outside Stockwell Underground station, as flowers and messages of condolence to Jean Charles de Menezes are seen outside
A police cordon seen round London's Stockwell Station on Friday, 22 July 2005 shortly after Jean Charles was shot
The family plans to mark the 20th anniversary of Jean Charles' death quietly, sharing stories and remembering the man they knew – not the suspect falsely portrayed to the public.
An inquest into Jean Charles' death returned an open verdict. No one was charged, but the Metropolitan Police was fined under health and safety laws.
In a statement, the Met said the tragedy occurred 'at a time of unprecedented terrorist threat to London'.
'No officer sets out intent on ending a life. Our sole purpose is the protection and preservation of life, and we have taken extensive action to address the causes of this tragedy.
'Our thoughts remain with his family and we reiterate our apology to them.'
