Azelle Rodney, Sir Ian Blair and the Met

Sir Ian Blair hasn't really had that good a start in his role as Met Commissioner. The successes achieved by his force in catching people connected with the failed July 21st bombings served to temporarily blot out some more significant failings made before and after the anti-terrorist operations.

While the facts seem pretty sparse on the Azelle Rodney case, it does appear that original claims by firearms police officers that Mr Rodney was about to draw a weapon may well have been unfounded. Is this just another case of a non-white man being shot first, and the proper questions being asked after the act?

The similar (and much more high profile) case of Jean Charles de Menezes has uncovered some worrying details about the way Sir Ian apparently attempted to prevent an independent inquiry into the circumstances of the Brazilian man's killing at the hands of Met officers.

As I noted, it would be better to wait for all the facts to come in before making grand statements about the Met. But I will say one thing: whenever a senior civil servant is involved in trying to prevent an inquiry into his department, alarm bells should ring.

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