Brazilians living in the borough have reacted with shock to the killing of innocent electrician Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station last week.

More than 60,000 Brazilians live in the capital, and the news that one of their countrymen was shot eight times by plain-clothes police officers who mistook him for a terrorist has been greeted with disbelief.

Sheila Tompkins, who was born in Recife in north Brazil and has lived in England for four years, is now settled in Colney Hatch Lane, New Southgate.

She said: "My family and friends in Brazil are very upset. It is a crazy situation and I think the police have been a bit paranoid. To shoot him eight times seems a bit over the top."

She added: "The fact he was running made it look like he had something to hide, and he should have co-operated with the police. However, London is in a state of alert at the moment so I can understand how something like this could happen.

"The Brazilian community knows this is a tragedy but seems to be coming to terms with it now."

Meanwhile, the organisation INQUEST which works with families of people who die at the hands of the police has called for a thorough and transparent' investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr de Menezes' death.