London's top police officer is under pressure following leaked documents which detail the events leading to the mistaken shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

The Brazilian was killed at Stockwell Tube station on July 22, a day after the failed bomb attempts, by officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair has previously apologised for the incident.

But the latest revelations suggest earlier reports that de Menezes was running from police officers when shot were not correct.

Neither was he wearing a bulky jacket as first reported.

There are also questions over whether he was properly identified as a suspect before authorisation was given for chasing officers to open fire.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the shooting, would not comment on how its documents were released to ITV News.

But it said the family "will clearly be distressed that they have received information on television concerning his death".

"The IPCC made it clear that we would not speculate or release partial information about the investigation, and that others should not do so. That remains the case," added the statement.

Questions

Harriet Wistrich, solicitor for the family of de Mendes, said the leaked description of events "raises very, very serious questions about the shoot-to-kill policy and shows immediate questions need to be asked about whether this policy should be in operation and how dangerously wrong it can go".

She said the police had no reason to suspect he was a suicide bomber beyond his emergence from a block of flats that had been under surveillance.

"He was not carrying a rucksack. He simply had a denim jacket," Wistrich told the BBC.

"Was it necessary to shoot him dead as opposed to trying to confront him at an earlier stage. There was no indication he was about to blow himself up at all."

And former Flying Squad commander John O'Connor told BBC Breakfast News there would be "pressure on the Met commissioner to consider his position".

"Whoever has leaked this report has caused him a great deal of embarrassment. You have to ask how on earth a report of this sensitivity has got out," he added.

Concerns

Conservative leader Michael Howard called for restraint before the full investigation into the incident is made public.

"We haven't had the report of the independent commission," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Until we get that report we should all exercise some restraint. When the report is available that will be the time for comment, and examine the lessons which could be learnt."

But Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten said the preliminary findings "will create obvious concerns".

"It is in the best interests of the police and the community for the full report and any recommendations to be published as quickly as possible," he added.

And Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "Emerging fragments of this tragedy are more and more troubling and make a speedy and truly independent investigation all the more important."