De Menezes family campaign for memorial

Relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes launched a campaign today to have a permanent memorial erected where he was shot dead by police.

They want a colourful mosaic picture of him created by a local artist to be attached to the wall outside Stockwell Tube Station, in south London.

An improvised memorial including flowers, candles, pictures and newspaper articles has been outside the busy transport hub for four years.

But officials at Transport for London (TfL), which owns the property, have yet to support any suggestions for a permanent replacement.

Relatives of Mr Menezes will gather at the Tube Station today to mark the fourth anniversary of his death.

Among them will be his cousins Vivian Figueiredo and Patricia da Silva Armani who lived with him in Tulse Hill, south London.

They will launch a petition titled Never Forget calling on London Mayor Boris Johnson and TfL to support the permanent memorial.

Mr Menezes was shot dead by counter terrorist officers who mistook him for wanted suicide bomber Hussain Osman on the day after the failed July 21 attacks in 2005.

The shooting provoked a series of wide-ranging inquiries that hauled police tactics, supervision and individual decisions over the coals.

Coroner Sir Michael Wright recorded an open verdict at the end of a multi-million pound inquest last year after a jury rejected a police account of the shooting.