Health and Safety 19 – control room wasn’t noisy

Says Cressida Dick, Gold Commander on the day:

The officer in charge of Scotland Yard operations on the day Jean Charles de Menezes was shot has denied claims the control room was “noisy and chaotic”.

Deputy assistant commissioner Cressida Dick was responding at the Old Bailey to claims that officers had to shout to make themselves heard in room 1600.

…

Deputy assistant commissioner Dick, speaking in court on the first day of the Met’s defence case, said: “I would not describe it ever as noisy.

“The early part of the day, it was really very calm and quiet.”

She said that later there were people in the room who were not “absolutely required”.

She said this had made the room hotter and “more difficult for people to move around”, and so she had asked them to leave.

But this was after the shooting of Mr de Menezes, she added.

( BBC)

This is one of the prosecution’s allegations, that the control room was so noisy that it contributed to the shooting.

But on the 15th we heard from Pat:

A second surveillance officer, identified as “Pat”, told jurors how it had been difficult to communicate over the racket in the control room.

“People were shouting to make themselves heard,” he said. “I had difficulty getting people’s attention because I couldn’t leave my seat.” (the Telegraph)

It would be nice if the media reported the timings (as I’m sure the timings must have been presented in court).

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