just victims of the in-house drive-by

So it turns out that the guy that the police shot dead at Stockwell station in London on Friday was not in fact connected with the suicide bombers. No. In fact he was a young Brazilian man working in as an electrician, and it seems his only crime was to live in the same block of flats as some of the suspected bombers. For this he received 5 shots to the head on the platform.

Ken Livingstone, London's Mayor said:

"The police acted to do what they believed necessary to protect the lives of the public. This tragedy has added another victim to the toll of deaths for which the terrorists bear responsibility."

No Ken, I think you are wrong. This death cannot be laid at the doors of the bombers. This death, terrible tragedy that it undoubtedly is, can only be blamed on the police. I understand that the officers are under an enormous amount of pressure and are desperately hunting the bombers before they can strike again, but they simply cannot afford to make this kind of mistake.

Terrorists may feel that they can kill indiscriminately, but that's what makes them terrorists. What can possibly justify a "shoot to kill" policy in a country where our justice system operates on the principle of "innocent until proven guilty"??