Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes - the real story behind the Disney+ drama

Airing on Disney+ from April 30, Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes dramatises events leading up to the tragic death of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, 20 years after he was killed while being mistaken for a terrorist.

The series looks at the aftermath of the devastating suicide bomb attacks of July 7, 2005. Large-scale counter terrorism operations were underway to prevent further ambushes. When a second set of attacks fails, a huge manhunt gets underway.

Jean Charles de Menezes was a 27-year-old electrician on his way to work, who ended up dead due to mistaken identity in the midst of the operations. The drama is told from multiple perspectives of those involved, looking at how memories can distort understanding of the truth - all four available episodes will land on Disney+ at the same time.

The true story behind Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes

The horrendous 7/7 bombings attacking London’s transport network took the lives of 52 people. The following day, a copycat attack failed - four men attempted to set off devices on three more underground trains and a bus.

Their devices failed to detonate completely, setting off explosions equivalent to a large firework going off, and not the full explosion intended. A large-scale manhunt ensued when the four copycat bombers fled the scene, and police were on high alert.

A gym membership card found inside a bag used by one of the bombers to carry his device led police to the block of flats where Menezes lived with two cousins. This was the start of a chain of events producing flawed intelligence leading to his death.

Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes | Official Trailer | Disney+ - YouTube

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The impact of the early narrative that made Menezes seem guilty is sadly the one that most people remember. His family has been understandably vocal about wanting the Disney+ drama to tell the truth - that he was completely innocent.

Once his block of flats had been identified by the gym card, it was put under surveillance. When he left his home to do a job, an officer believed he resembled one of the failed bombing suspects, from CCTV images he'd seen.

The footage of Menezes outside his flat was sent to the Metropolitan Police but was delayed along the way. Cressida Dick was heading up the taskforce dealing with major incidents at the time, and told officers to continue observing Menezes until the footage of him could be compared to CCTV images of the attempted bomber.

She also issued the order that Menezes be prevented from entering the Underground at any point. On his way to work, Menezes had to take a longer route because some of the tube stations he needed to use were closed after the bombings.

Officers didn't know the reason for his altered journey and labelled his route suspicious. Because of this, and the fact he'd resembled the CCTV footage bomber, Cressida Dick gave the order for him to be detained, and ‘code red’ was deployed meaning firearms units were sent to his Stockwell location.

At Stockwell station, Menezes was followed by officers as he got on board the tube carriage. They prevented the doors from closing, and it's unclear whether he was challenged - reports remain mixed on this.

He stood up and was restrained as he attempted to move towards the police. Two officers then shot him 11 times, with seven of those aimed at his head. His body was said to be unrecognisable after the shots were fired.

It took just one day for police to ascertain Menezes was innocent, while protests began both in the UK and Brazil. Initial reports claimed Menezes had vaulted turnstiles and run down stairs at the tube station, while the reality was he bought a newspaper and walked normally to his carriage.

The incident was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and hampered by inconsistencies and missing footage that would've proved vital to the investigation. Menezes' family took the government European Court of Human Rights when the final ruling in the investigation didn't prosecute anyone involved - they were unsuccessful.

Speaking to The Guardian, Russell Tovey who plays Brian Paddick in the show, says, "The truth doesn’t matter anymore… so we have to make these shows because art can educate and bring about change."

Referring to hit Netflix drama Adolescence, he adds, "If you dramatise something, it brings it into existence in a way that no other medium really can. We need these series to tell us who we are and to hold people accountable."