Police chief in charge of de Menezes shooting is handed ANOTHER promotion

The police chief who oversaw the bungled operation which resulted in the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes was yesterday made the third most powerful officer at Scotland Yard.

Cressida Dick, 48, who was severely criticised over her role in the death of the innocent 27-year-old Brazilian, was appointed an assistant commissioner.

She will be charge of the Met’s Specialist Crimes Directorate, which includes murder squads and elite detective units, including the one investigating MPs over alleged expenses fraud.

It is her second promotion since Mr de Menezes was mistakenly gunned down by anti-terror police at Stockwell Tube station in South London four years ago.

Her new job, equivalent in rank to a provincial chief constable, carries a salary of £180,000 - double what Oxford-educated Miss Dick was earning as a Met commander when the tragedy occurred.

Last night, diversity campaigners welcomed Miss Dick’s latest promotion, which will make her the first woman to hold the rank of assistant commissioner on a permanent basis.

However, the move has angered relatives of Mr de Menezes, who believe she and other officers should have faced criminal charges over the shooting.

A spokesman for the Justice for Jean campaign said: ‘Nobody has been held to account for Jean’s death. Those in charge on the day have been rewarded.

‘No wonder more and more of the public have lost confidence in the senior levels of the Met. Like MPs, they simply refuse to accept that they have done anything wrong.’

However, Yard insiders insisted last night that Miss Dick, one of the Met’s most popular senior officers, had been given the post because she was ‘head and shoulders’ above her two rivals.

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