Met guilty over De Menezes shooting

The jury at the Old Bailey found the force had breached health and safety rules, and had failed in its duty to protect members of the public in the killing of the innocent Brazilian electrician at Stockwell underground station, in south London, on July 22 2005.

De Menezes was shot seven times by police who mistook him for one of four men who failed to detonate explosives in the capital on the previous day, the court heard during the four-week trial.

The prosecution alleged the police operation to follow and stop De Menezes - who lived in the same south London block as the terror suspect Hussein Osman - was carried out "so badly that the public were needlessly put at risk".

The force now faces a maximum sentence of an unlimited fine.