Moment innocent Jean Charles de Menezes was mistakenly shot dead by police is recreated for Disney + drama: Actors run into Stockwell tube station as they film scenes for ‘Suspect’ which retells 7/7 terror attack and aftermath
Disney faces a new row over its new 7/7 drama after they filmed scenes related to the death of Jean Charles de Menezes at the same London Underground station where he was shot dead by police, MailOnline can reveal today.
An actor playing the Brazilian-born electrician in Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, was filmed walking into Stockwell Tube, where he was gunned down 18 years ago.
Seconds later more actors playing undercover police screeched up in 4x4s and other cars and ran after him, in exactly the same way they did on July 22, 2005.
One witness told MailOnline: ‘The Tube station was open that day. People were coming out as actors ran towards the entrance and put on police caps. They may have no idea what was going on. It looked terrifying’.
MailOnline has asked Transport for London to comment on how Disney+ and the Suspect cast were able to film at the station.
The sets included a replica of the No 30 double decker bus blown up in Tavistock Square. Photographs from the set showed the production team have recreated the shattered bus, along with blood spattered across nearby pavements and upturned bus seats.
An actor playing Jean Charles de Menezes in a new and controversial Disney+ mini series charting 7/7 and the events that led to his death
The actor playing Jean Charles walks into Stockwell Tube Station – the same one where he was shot dead on a train on July 22, 2005.
Jean Charles de Menezes (left) was shot dead when police mistook him for a would-be suicide bomber in 2005. The story is being made into a TV series for Disney (right)
In extraordinary scenes filmed two weeks ago, actors playing police sprinted into the station
A witness described seeing men running from cars and towards the station
One actor dons a police cap and gives chase through the streets of London
CCTV still showing Stockwell Station moments before Jean Charles De Menezes was shot
Little did he know that police were chasing in after him (CCTV of the incident pictured in 2005)
This is the shocking recreation of the bombing of the Number 30 bus (pictured) at Tavistock Square – mocked up in central London for a Disney+ show on 7/7 that has caused fury amongst victims and their families
The limited series is written and executive produced by Jeff Pope, the Oscar nominated screenwriter behind hit movies including Philomena and Stan and Ollie. It is produced by Etta Pictures, Mr Pope’s production label which is part of ITV Studios, it has also been confirmed that the series will be directed by BAFTA award-winning Paul Andrew Williams.
Jean Charles was shot dead on a train at Stockwell Underground station in South London on July 22, 2005.
The filming there for the Disney show is understood to have taken place on Sunday, October 22.
Mr de Menezes, a Brazilian working as an electrician in the capital, was blasted in the head seven times by police at Stockwell station after being followed by officers from his home nearby.
Later inquiries heard he appeared to match the description of one of the failed suicide bombers, whose devices failed to detonate on the transport system the previous day.
Their attempted attack followed the 7/7 atrocity which killed 52 people on Tube trains and a bus in London earlier that month.
Mr de Menezes’s family led a long campaign calling for police officers to be prosecuted for the shooting and criticising Scotland Yard for its handling of the operation, which was led at the time by Dame Cressida Dick.
Jean Charles headed to Brixton completely unaware that surveillance officers were sat on the same bus as him (pictured in the TV series)
The TV series is being filmed on location in central London
Jean Charles then headed to Stockwell to get the Tube, not knowing he was about to be shot dead (pictured being filmed)
Police in the TV drama run into Stockwell Tube Station
Actors on the TV show Suspect run after the actor playing Jean Charles
Another actor runs into Stockwell Station
Actors as police run into Stockwell Tube
One witness suggested that the station was open that day. MailOnline has asked Transport for London to comment
More actors tear into the station two weeks ago
But no police officers involved in Mr De Menezes’ fatal shooting ever faced disciplinary action, and Dame Cressida was cleared of any blame by a jury.
Ms Dick was the senior commander in charge of the botched operation that led to the fatal shooting of Jean Charles.
She oversaw the operation that led to officers mistakenly identifying the Brazilian as an on-the-run suicide bomber, two weeks after the July 7 London bombings.
The Metropolitan Police was successfully prosecuted for health and safety failings, but in an unusual move the jury attacked the Met but said it did not hold Ms Dick responsible.
She told the Mail in 2018: ‘It was an appalling thing – an innocent man killed by police. Me in charge. Awful for the family and I was properly held to account. We learned every lesson that was to be learned.
‘My job was to stand up and be counted, tell the truth and carry on. If police officers fell to pieces or resigned when operations didn’t go well, it wouldn’t send out a good message.’
The real Jean Charles de Menezes (marked JC), as he is pursued by a surveillance officer (marked ‘IVOR’)
A floral mosaic unveiled to mark the anniversary of the fatal police shooting of innocent Jean Charles de Menezes
Disney has already been branded ‘shameful’ by victims of the 7/7 terror attack in London – the worst loss of life in a terrorist attack on mainland Britain in history – after the entertainment giant recreated the bombings for an upcoming TV drama.
The co-ordinated suicide attacks on the capital’s Tube and bus network killed 56 and injured 770 on July 7 2005.
There has been horror after pictures emerged of the show’s recreation of the bombing of the Number 30 bus at Tavistock Square, in Bloomsbury.
Actors playing victims with missing limbs and burns are also seen fleeing the scene. It is being filmed in Bermondsey – just a few miles from the sites of the four bombings that took place that day at Aldgate, Edgware Road and Russell Square stations.
Victims of Britain’s deadliest terror attack have slammed Disney for recreating the traumatic day, and even accused the company of failing to consult them in the run-up to the filming of Suspect.
There is also anger that Disney allegedly failed to put up many visible signs that warned passers-by of the production – meaning they were not sure if it was real.
The iconic image of a young woman being rushed through London’s streets with a burn mask was also recreated for the show being filmed at the moment (pictured), called: Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
The image above appears to be a recreation of Paul Dadge (right) helping injured Tube passenger Davinia Turrell (left) away from Edgware Road tube station in London following an explosion symbolised the bravery and chaos of the day in 2005 (pictured)
The explosion that tore through the bus was recreated (pictured), along with blood spatters across nearby pavements and torn up bus seats
This is the scene in Tavistock Square when the real 7/7 terror attack happened in 2005
Several actors depicting injured victims were seen
Locals said Disney failed to put up many visible signs that warned passers-by of the production
Actors on the set of the controversial TV series, which is being filmed in Bermondsey, south-east London
Daniel Biddle, the worst-injured survivor of the attacks, said Disney’s production was ‘shameful.’
The 43-year-old told the Sun: ‘It’s absolutely shameful. I can’t ever forget 7/7 or get over it. This is a lack of respect by Disney.’
Daniel, who lost both legs, an eye and his spleen in the horrific attack, said producers failed to contact him before filming for the show began in early October.
‘It’s pretty sick not to consult those who were injured or the loved ones of those who lost their lives.’
A source told MailOnline that producers ‘have been, and will be’ speaking to several people who were affected by the attack.
But Michael Henning, who is part of an online support group for survivors, was adamant no one had been in touch.
The 57-year-old broker, who suffered injuries to his face and eye, said: ‘These things have to be done with taste, decency, and dignity.
‘I would implore them to keep everyone informed as this is such a sensitive subject and can cause deep distress.’
On top of this, Disney was accused of distorting facts, despite claiming that the production is a ‘factual dramatisation.’
One standout image made front pages across the world, showing a barefooted woman in a burns mask. While the iconic image was taken outside Edgeware Road Station in 2005, Disney’s production places her at Tavistock Square.
Disney said none of the actors on set were representing any specific individuals.
Survivor Daniel, who was in the Edgware Road explosion, said: ‘To take a real life event with such a huge loss of life and devastation and say, “It’s not interesting enough, we need to zhuzh it up” is just barbaric.
‘It seems as if they’ve twisted the facts to suit their own narrative.’
Daniel, who now lives in South Wales, added: ‘It should be reflected accurately.
‘People died in horrendous ways and for that to be blatantly disregarded is sick.’
Locals who saw the production being filmed accused Disney of not warning them enough that the traumatic bombing was going to be recreated.
Disney said none of the actors (pictured) on set were representing any specific individuals
Several survivors condemned Disney for dredging up traumatic memories of the 7/7 bombing (pictured being filmed)
Survivors also accused the entertainment giant of not consulting them before making the programme (pictured)
Locals and victims say they were not warned that the series is being filmed in London (set pictured)
Jack Nuzum, 30, added: ‘There was one sign up warning us and then suddenly there was a huge bus crash in the middle of the park that looked like a disaster scene.’
A source insisted that signs were put in place alongside marshals canvassing the area, to alert the public to the nature of the production, and added that the model of the blown-up bus was covered in tarpaulin to reduce the amount of time it was visible.
67-year-old George Psaradakis, who was driving the Number 30 bus when it was torn apart by a suicide bomber, said: It’s been years — why should they ignite it?
‘I’m not going to watch it. It’s tasteless.
‘This will bring pain to everyone, especially to those who lost their loved ones.’
On July 7 2005, four suicide bombers, armed with improvised explosives stuck inside their backpacks, killed 52 people and themselves, and injured hundreds more.
Three of the group – Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, and Hasib Hussain, 18 – departed Leeds in a rented car bound for Luton, where they picked up 19-year-old Germaine Lindsay before heading for the centre of London.
The four attackers went after rush-hour commuters as they set off the explosives in their backpacks between 8:49am and 9:47am.
Victims of Britain’s deadliest terror attack slammed Disney for recreating the traumatic day, and even accused the company of failing to consult victims in the run-up
Filmmakers were seen setting up the production site in Bermondsey, less than two miles away from the blast at Liverpool Street Station which killed seven people
Disney was accused of distorting facts, despite claiming that the production is a ‘factual dramatisation’ (pictured)
The three Underground explosions, at Liverpool Street Station, Edgeware Road Station and Kings Cross St. Pancras/Russell Square, were set off within 50 seconds of each other, while the Tavistock Square explosion was set off as evacuees were being put onboard buses to get them away from Tube stations.
A Disney spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes is a factual dramatisation of events surrounding the police shooting of the innocent Brazilian shortly after the attempted bombings on 21 July.
‘The team producing the series has significant expertise in this type of programming, incorporating extensive in-depth research that has been approached with the utmost sensitivity and respect, and all involved are conscious of the huge responsibility that comes with telling this story.
‘As with any production, a number of factors were carefully considered when sourcing the filming location, and throughout filming production have worked very closely with TFL, police, the council, community and businesses to ensure all were aware ahead of time that filming was taking place with marshals and signage canvassing the area on the day.’
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