LONDON - AN INQUEST opens in London on Monday into the death of an innocent Brazilian man shot dead by police on an underground train after mistaking him for a suicide bomber.

Police shot electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, several times in the head after he boarded an underground train in south London on July 22, 2005.

Chronology of events Jul 7, 2005: Four young British Islamists carry out suicide bomb attacks on three underground trains and a bus in London, killing 52 people. Jul 21: In another attempt to attack London's transport system, homemade bombs fail to explode and the four bombers flee. Police launch the country's biggest ever manhunt. ... more

They had wrongly identified him as one of four men who had tried to attack the city's transport system a day earlier.

A jury will rule on whether or not Mr De Menezes was unlawfully killed.

The inquest's findings will be closely watched and could bring more pressure for the resignation of Mr Ian Blair, the Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police Service.

Mr Blair defied calls to quit after his force was found guilty last year of endangering the public over the shooting.

Earlier this month he dismissed a newspaper report hat he would be ousted by the end of the year, saying: 'The report of my death is an exaggeration'.

Relatives of Mr De Menezes have campaigned for manslaughter charges to be brought against individual officers.

But last December a police watchdog said no disciplinary action would be taken against four senior officers over the killing, saying they could not be held personally responsible for the mistakes that led to the shooting.

The Metropolitan Police was fined 175,000 pounds (S$457,000) a month earlier after being convicted of a single charge of breaching health and safety rules which require it to protect the public.

Mr De Menezes was killed during a manhunt a day after would-be suicide bombers had escaped after their bombs failed to detonate on London transport.

The failed attacks were a copy of suicide bombings that had killed 52 commuters two weeks before.

The Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2006 there was insufficient evidence to charge any individual over Mr De Menezes's death.

The inquest at the Oval Conference Centre in south London is expected to last 12 weeks. -- REUTERS