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| Crow seeks further talks with Mayor after "disappointing" meeting Publication Date: July 22 2005 JULY 22: THE TUBE"S biggest union is seeking further urgent talks with the Mayor of London after a “very disappointing” meeting with Ken Livingstone today. “It is extremely disappointing that at the Mayor did not give the assurances that our members are seeking on key safety and security issues,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today. “We are seeking straightforward commitments to dropping plans to cut station staff and to ensuring that safety regulations for sub-surface stations remain in place, but these were not forthcoming. “I am sure that Tube users would agree with us that we need to see more uniformed staff on stations, not fewer, and that safety regulations brought in after the Kings Cross fire should remain in place. “In the absence of positive responses on these and other concerns we put forward, I have today requested a direct meeting with the Mayor on Monday, and will be consulting the general secretaries of our sister unions and members of our parliamentary group over the weekend. “Our members and all LUL staff have shown immense courage and commitment through the awful events of the last two weeks, but their concerns at the way yesterday"s alert was handled are serious and there are many other issues that remain to be resolved. “Their concerns will have been fuelled by the revelation that an innocent Tube driver today found himself with a police gun at his head during the incident in Stockwell station in which a suspect was shot dead. “No apology could ever be enough ever take away the trauma that that driver has suffered and there should be a full inquiry into the handling of the incident,” Bob Crow said. |
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At Oval Tube station about 20 or 30 passengers were evacuated from a train after seeing "white smoke". The RMT union's security meeting was told the suspect used a handgun to try and detonate explosives contained in a backpack, BBC London Transport correspondent Andrew Winstanley said. There were reports that bystanders tried to tackle a man as he fled the station. source:BBC |
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| http://www.stockwellinquest.org.uk/evidence/161007.pdf |
| QUOTE ("WILLIAM at the JCdM Inquest 16th October 2007") |
Page 170 22 Q. Now, I don't want to take you, please, through the 23 events in the carriage. The jury have heard several 24 accounts now of what occurred. I just want you to tell 25 the jury, please, about an incident that happened after Page 171 1 Mr de Menezes was shot and you were on the Tube 2 platform. If it helps you, I'm looking towards the 3 bottom of page 259 of your statement. Did you assist in 4 clearing the carriages to make sure that everybody, ie 5 passengers, were off the train? 6 A. Yes, I did. 7 Q. And what about the driver of the train? 8 A. As I was going through the carriages I had noticed that 9 there were two other plain clothes officers with 10 baseball caps on on the carriageway -- on the platform, 11 and I instructed them that I needed to clear the 12 carriages, to make sure there were no persons left on 13 board. When I got to the end of the carriages I asked 14 them about the train driver, whether he had left the 15 front of the train or not. 16 Q. Did you notice someone in the tunnel? 17 A. I did. As I got to the Tube, I looked up towards the 18 stairs, which were at the end of the platform. 19 I noticed a dark figure running away up the tracks. 20 Q. And what did you do? 21 A. I shouted "Armed police, stand still". 22 Q. Where was your weapon at this point? 23 A. That was drawn and up into the aim. 24 Q. Can you just indicate for the jury what position that 25 means? Page 172 1 A. That means the weapon is a good eyesight between the 2 fore sight, rear sight, your eye, and the subject you 3 are looking at. The target you are looking at. 4 Q. Can you just cock your fingers and demonstrate? 5 A. It would be like that (Indicates). That was the aim. 6 So good eye relief between the subject, front sight, 7 rear sight and your eye. 8 MR JUSTICE HENRIQUES: You were pointing your gun at the 9 driver. 10 A. I believed he was a member of the public. Not the 11 public; an unknown quantity, a threat. At that time, 12 I believed the driver had gone on to the platform and 13 gone away with the rest of the public, as instructed by 14 the other officers. 15 MR JUSTICE HENRIQUES: Of course, I'm not saying that 16 critically. The fact of the matter is that was what was 17 happening. 18 A. That is what was happening, yes. 19 MR KNOWLES: Where was your trigger finger at this point? 20 A. It was on the trigger. 21 Q. Sorry, I'm not sure whether you have told us this: you 22 pointed your weapon, did you say anything? 23 A. I shouted, "Stand still, armed police". 24 Q. Was there any response that you could see? 25 A. No, the gentleman went and hid between the wall which Page 173 1 connects the two tracks together. 2 Q. So what did you do, please? 3 A. I continued to shout, put my tactical illuminator onto 4 my weapon, illuminated the tunnel and continued to 5 shout. 6 Q. What could you see? 7 A. I could see the head of this male down the Tube line 8 bobbing out of the -- from the wall. 9 Q. Just tell us, please, how this incident unfolds. You 10 are there with your weapon pointing and he is bobbing 11 his head out. 12 A. The gentleman is bobbing his head out from the wall 13 where the two tracks meet. I'm left handed; I'm at the 14 head wall of the train track. This affords me no 15 ballistic cover at all, being left handed, so 16 I addressed back to the front carriage of the Tube train 17 where it afforded me a little bit more ballistic 18 protection, not a lot, because of the construction of 19 the track -- the train itself. And I continued to shout 20 from there. 21 Q. Were you joined at some stage by another colleague? 22 A. I was indeed. 23 Q. And was that Sam? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. What happened after you were joined by Sam? Page 174 1 A. This male then moved out into the tracks himself and 2 into my vision fully. I shouted at him to show me his 3 hands and walk towards the light. He put his hands up 4 and said he was the driver. 5 Q. What state was he in? 6 A. When he came out on to the platform, very shocked, 7 I suggest. 8 Q. What else did the driver say? 9 A. The driver said he had nearly electrocuted himself as he 10 jumped off the train and would not drive again. 11 Q. And thereafter, did you assist in post-incident 12 procedures dealing with explosives officers and matters 13 of that type? 14 A. That's correct, my Lord. 15 Q. Yes, thank you. Just wait there, please. 16 MR THWAITES: Does your Lordship wish me to start? 17 MR JUSTICE HENRIQUES: Well, entirely up to you, 18 Mr Thwaites. We've really heard all this before, but 19 I -- 20 MR THWAITES: I am not going through it in extenso. Perhaps 21 I can start and finish. 22 MR JUSTICE HENRIQUES: I thought so. We are really pretty 23 familiar with this scenario. 24 Cross-examination by MR THWAITES 25 MR THWAITES: Yes, I just want to collect from you some new Page 175 1 details that we haven't had -- 2 MR JUSTICE HENRIQUES: Yes, of course. 3 MR THWAITES: -- from the Nightingale briefing. Can you go 4 to the part of your statement, please; in my version it 5 is page 3 of 6 of your first statement. 6 A. Do you mean the briefing at Nightingale Lane itself? 7 Q. Nightingale Lane, the briefing. I am only going to pick 8 out things which are new or different from what we have 9 had, do you follow me? 10 A. Yes. 11 MR JUSTICE HENRIQUES: Page 256, probably. 12 MR THWAITES: You have it, have you? It's 189 in mine. 13 MR JUSTICE HENRIQUES: 256, "When we arrived at 14 Nightingale Lane we made our way to the briefing room". 15 MR THWAITES: Right. I'm looking on a little bit further 16 than that, about ten lines further on, after the name 17 "Omar" appears at the end of a sentence and then it 18 continues: 19 "This vehicle and our subjects were concerned in a 20 previous intelligence operation in Cumbria ... " 21 I think that is a reference to Omar. 22 A. Yes, that's correct. 23 Q. Then I want to continue: 24 " ... along with some other persons connected with 25 7th July." Page 176 1 So there is a linkage in the briefing? 2 A. That is correct, I mean -- 3 Q. Between Omar, one of the people connected to 4 Scotia Road, and people connected with the 7th July 5 bombings. 6 A. That's correct, my Lord. 7 Q. That's what you are being told. Then: 8 "He then carried on giving us information about the 9 make up of the bombs on both dates and the methods of 10 detonation. The bombs were very volatile made up of 11 HMTB and easy to initiate by lighting fuses or by using 12 a light bulb with two wires and a battery." 13 A. That is correct, my Lord.14 Q. Did he also tell you in the briefing that a converted 15 firearm had been recovered? 16 A. That's correct. 17 Q. Which would suggest or may suggest that the terrorist, 18 in addition to having bombs, had guns capable of being 19 fired? 20 A. That is correct. 21 Q. Then I go on to after the reference to the persons being 22 well prepared, deadly and determined and up for it, with 23 no regard to life, theirs or others: 24 " ... C12 asked if the types of bombs were easy to 25 conceal around the body and easy to detonate, and Silver page 177 1 said 'yes'." 2 Then this question: 3 "C11 asked, if the bombs on 21st had detonated 4 correctly, would the results have been the same as the 5 7th ... " 6 A. That's correct. 7 Q. " ... 7/7, and Silver again said 'yes'." 8 A. That's correct, my Lord. 9 Q. So you understood from your second main briefing that 10 you were dealing with terrorists who had tried to 11 accomplish as much murder and mayhem as that caused by 12 the 7/7 bombings. 13 A. That's correct. 14 Q. "D3 asked if it is safe to assume that the subjects 15 still have ready access to explosives and they can be 16 easy to detonate and Silver said it could not be 17 discounted." 18 A. That is correct. 19 Q. I think without indulging in the horrors of repetition, 20 that is all I want to ask you. 21 MR JUSTICE HENRIQUES: Thank you very much. Thank you. 22 MR KNOWLES: I have no re-examination. 23 MR JUSTICE HENRIQUES: Thank you very much. That is as far 24 as we will go today. 25 MR KNOWLES: My Lord, yes. |
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| Page 2 4 Statement of QUINCY OJI (read) 5 MR HOUGH: The first statement is Quincy Akpesiri Oji. 6 SIR MICHAEL WRIGHT: As I remember, he is the train driver. 7 MR HOUGH: He is the train driver. 8 SIR MICHAEL WRIGHT: Page number, please? 9 MR HOUGH: Page 473. This is a statement dated 22 July 2005 10 and Mr Oji says that: 11 "This statement refers to a shooting incident that 12 I was present at." 13 He then refers to the time he started duty. He then 14 says: 15 "I am a tube train driver and I work for the 16 London Underground. I got to Stockwell tube station 17 just before 10 am... When I got there the light was red, 18 this is unusual for Stockwell tube station at this time 19 of day. We were stopped there for about four or five 20 minutes. [Was Kennington Station closed because of the 'Fumes in Carriage incident?] I called over the station assistant, who was 21 on the platform. I asked him if he knew what was going 22 on and why we were stuck at Stockwell. He said, 'No', 23 but told me that Kennington tube station was closed. 24 I tried to call the controller using the train radio and 25 the automatic telephone on the platform. He wasn't Page 3 1 answering and the signal went to green. I was still on 2 the platform. Normally I would then have gone, but 3 because Kennington was closed, I was concerned that the 4 passengers would need to change at Stockwell for the 5 Charing Cross train. I then heard people screaming, but 6 I could not make out what they were saying. I could 7 also hear feet stamping, as in people running. I looked 8 at the monitor in the front cab of the train. I was on 9 the tube when I heard all of this noise and the platform 10 assistant... was at the door to the train talking to me. 11 On the monitor I could see people running everywhere 12 towards the front of the train and towards the stairs 13 for the exit. I heard gunshots, there were about 15 14 shots. On the monitor I saw lots of people, I did not 15 recognise any of them. They were in mufti, this means 16 plain clothes. I could see about six to ten people with 17 guns outside the carriage. I think there were two of 18 them shooting. I saw one of the men with a big gun 19 shooting. The man with the big gun was shooting direct 20 into the carriage, his aim was straight, not up or down. 21 I have then turned the train off which has switched the 22 monitor off. I could still see people running out 23 towards the exit near the front of the train. People 24 were still screaming and there was panic. Initially 25 I thought that they were fanatics and that they were Page 4 1 shooting people in the carriage. I have then opened my 2 door, this is the front door. It is right at the front 3 of the train and leads on to the track. I have then run 4 into the dark tunnel, it was black and I was unable to 5 see. I was scared because it is a live track and there 6 are oncoming trains on the next track. I stepped 7 shortly into the tunnel and put myself up against the 8 wall to keep safe. This whole incident took place over 9 about a minute. I then stood with my back to the wall 10 for about 20 seconds. The noise had quietened down and 11 somebody flashed a light [into] the tunnel. The person 12 saw me and said, 'Freeze'. I had my hands in the air 13 and the train keys in my right hand. I said, 'Please 14 don't shoot, I am the driver'. He then said, 'Move 15 slowly'. He had his gun and the light pointed at me. 16 I saw that there were two other men with him, and they 17 had their guns pointed at me as well. The guy that was 18 talking to me had a small gun, which I think was in his 19 right hand and the flashlight in the other. The other 20 two guys had large guns. The same guy said, 'We're the 21 police'. I was walking slowly on the ballast. I was 22 unable to see because the light was in my eyes. He said 23 a few times, 'Move slowly' or 'move slowly forward'. 24 When I reached them, they patted me down and said, 'Get 25 out of the station'." Page 5 1 Then he describes leaving the station and, unless 2 anybody wishes, I won't read any more of his statement. 3 SIR MICHAEL WRIGHT: Thank you.
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