Menezes family slams Blair's medal claim

Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has been accused of "rewriting history" over the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.

Sir Ian, 56, who retired last year after being forced out by Mayor Boris Johnson, writes in his book Policing Controversy that he made some mistakes during his term - including the de Menezes affair - an incident that fuelled claims of a police cover-up.

In his book he praises the two officers who shot the Brazilian saying: "Given what they thought they were dealing with in running towards and getting within a few feet of a suspected suicide bomber... [they] should have been awarded the George Medal."

Mr de Menezes' family said: "It feels like Sir Ian is attempting to rewrite history and exonerate himself, when he presided over a range of incompetencies."