Tube shooting: 'no prosecutions'

Two police marksmen who killed an innocent Brazilian at a London Underground station will escape criminal charges, according to reports.

Senior Metropolitan Police and Whitehall officials are said to be convinced that prosecutors will accept the defence of the officers who shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes.

The 27-year-old electrician died after he was followed to Stockwell Tube station in the belief that he was a suicide bomber. This was the day after the abortive 21 July terror attacks on the Underground.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission this month took evidence from the two officers who killed Mr de Menezes.

They are thought to have said in their defence that they "honestly believed" he was a terrorist and that they used "reasonable force".

They are expected to base their case on a detailed account of radio communications between their firearms unit and more senior Met officers.