The hard-working son who moved to London in search of a better life

By Steve Bird, Rajeev Syal and Tom Hennigan in São Paulo


AFTER surviving the crimeridden slums of Brazil, London seemed to be the perfect, peaceful place for Jean Charles de Menezes to start a new life.

Now his parents are struggling to understand how their generous and loving son was shot dead at point-blank range by British police in the mistaken belief that he was a suicide bomber.

His family demanded a public inquiry yesterday into his death on the platform of Stockwell Tube station last Friday.

Maria Menezes, his disabled mother, speaking from her home in Brazil, said that she was inconsolable. “Jean went to Europe to work, that is all, he went there for his family, to send us money. I feel like my heart has broken into a thousand pieces. I can’t believe my son will never walk through our door alive again,” she said.

Mr Menezes, 27, known as “Jem” to his friends, was one of two children born to a farming family in Gonzaga, a 5,500- strong mining village 500 miles northeast of São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city.

He grew up surrounded by poverty, according to family members. His father, Matuzinho, an arable farmer and part-time builder, struggled to make a living while his mother stayed at home to look after Jean and his older brother Giovanni.

Mr Menezes worked hard at school, particularly at English, and was also a gifted footballer, friends said. Despite a strong academic record, he left school at 15 so that he could help to support his father who would go through occasional bouts of unemployment.

Alex Pereira, his cousin from South Norwood, South London, said Mr Menezes was “incredibly close” to his family. “From a young age, he would contact his family. Even when he lived in Britain, he would speak to them three times a week on a neighbour’s telephone,” he said.
At the age of 18, Mr Menezes worked as a miner but wanted to find a new vocation and so moved to São Paulo. It was there that he struggled to make a living among the teeming city streets, his friends said.

Mr Pereira said that his cousin had witnessed running battles between police and drug gangs and, for that reason, would not have run away from British police. “There are rules in Brazil. Police shoot you if you run away from them there. He would have known that and I don’t believe he would have run away from (the British) police,” he said.

While in São Paulo, Mr Menezes was trained by his older brother as an electrician, a trade that would eventually help him to leave Brazil.

By 2000, Mr Menezes had decided to follow other ambitious Brazilians and emigrate. His first choice was the US, but he was disappointed when his visa application was turned down, friends said.

The next year, he successfully applied for work in Portugal, before being granted a work permit in Britain that relatives said allowed him to stay for five years. The move to Britain was, it seems, a difficult decision because it would make it harder to stay in touch with his family.

“He loved Brazil, but realised that he could earn much better money in Britain and so could send his parents so much more,” Mr Pereira said.

Once in Britain, he moved into a small flat with his cousins Patrice, 31, and Vivien, 22, in Tulse Hill, South London. The move brought to an end a long-term relationship with his Brazilian girlfriend. It is understood the pair had found it difficult to carry on a relationship with such a distance between them.

Family members said that Mr Menezes planned to return to Brazil this year and had hopes of starting a business with his brother. Cleber Rabelo de Menezes, a cousin who lives in Brazil, said that Mr Menezes was planning to return in six months’ time. “He had already bought a van with his elder brother for them to share when he returned,” he said.

Last Friday morning, Mr Menezes said goodbye to his cousins in their first-floor flat and walked through a children’s playground to catch the No 2 bus to Brixton. He planned to travel from Brixton Underground station to meet a friend in West London, where they were to install smoke alarms in a block of flats.

Mr Pereira said that he learnt of Mr Menezes’s death on Saturday when he was summoned to a police station. “They showed me his driving licence; I just knew what had happened,” he said. He identified his cousin’s body and said that he would be haunted by the sight for the rest of his life.

HE WAS A SON, LIKE YOUR SON AND MY SON, HE WAS NOT A HEAD OF STATES COLATERAL DAMAGE, IT COULD VERY EASILY BE OURSELVES OR OUR CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, IS THIS THE WORLD WE WANT OUR FAMILIES TO LIVE IN, THE MESSAGES THEY DO NOT WANT YOU TO HEAR OR SEE

My heart goes out to you, and may god watch over him for you.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1707261,00.html