Pin the tail on the donkey

Published 23 July, 2005

Today the Met (London Metropolitan Police) apologised for the Stockwell shooting and admitted they got it wrong. Five bullets pumped into the wrong guy.

Why did he run, ignore calls to stop, leap over the ticket barrier? His intention was to escape his pursuers - Why? Was he deaf? Did he not understand English? Was he going about a relatively minor piece of mischief, such as carrying drugs or pirated CDs? Or was he one of London's vulnerable "care in the community" people - festering in an alternative reality in a dingy bedsit in Stockwell.

I will add the policeman that pumped 5 bullets into the chest of a "frightened rabbit" to my list of victims of this madness. He has to live with himself tomorrow and the day after. I want to know how they got it so wrong - is their intelligence so flimsy and unreliable? Are we just pinning tails on donkeys or have we got something to go on?