LONDON, Aug 17: British police faced acute embarrassment Wednesday after leaked documents showed that a Brazilian killed on suspicion of being a suicide bomber was not trying to flee and was being overpowered when he was shot in the head at point-blank range.

The documents and images, which show him pausing to pick up a newspaper and using his ticket to get into the London underground railway system, contradict earlier police claims and witness statements

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the police killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, refused to confirm or deny the report broadcast late Tuesday.

Police shot the electrician, 27, after he boarded a subway train on July 22, a day after four would-be bombers tried but failed to repeat the July 7 blasts that killed 56 people.

Initial reports said de Menezes had been acting suspiciously — wearing a bulky jacket, jumping a ticket barrier at Stockwell Underground station, south London, and sprinting onto the train.

But witness accounts and photographs leaked to ITV television showed him in a light denim jacket walking calmly into Stockwell station.

They also revealed that de Menezes was being restrained by an officer before being shot eight times, including seven bullets to the head, in front of horrified commuters.—AFP