Over three years since the death of Jean Charles De Menezes at the hands of British police officers, the inquest into the events surrounding his killing has begun. Mr De Menezes, 27, was shot by armed police less than a mile away at Stockwell Tube station after he was mistaken for a suicide bomber on July 22, 2005. He had been followed by police surveillance teams from an address linked to one of four men who had tried to detonate bombs on the London transport system the previous day.

At the end of the inquest – which is expected to take around three months – the jury will be asked to deliver a verdict on the cause of the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, and the facts of “how, when and where” the death occurred. The inquest jury cannot determine whether any individual is liable, in criminal or civil law, for the death. The inquest will attempt to ascertain whether the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes was lawful – specifically, whether the force used was no more than absolutely necessary and a proportionate response in the circumstances.