The Independent Police Complaints Commission will complete its report on the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by Christmas, an inquest has heard.

But the report will not be published until all legal and disciplinary proceedings in the case are complete.

In other words, we’ve more chance of getting to the truth by waiting for Ian Blair’s post-retirement memoires than we have from the IPCC’s deliberations.

Here’s how it goes:

The IPCC report will not be finished until the end of this year.

This will then go privately to the Met and the Home Office who will decide whether any matters should be referred to the CPS for possible criminal charges – add three months on for that decision.

If it is referred to the CPS, they will then need to instruct another Police Force to carry out a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the shooting – add another six months – after which the CPS will have to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial – another six months again.

Then there’s the trial itself – anything from six months to a year during which time the matter will be sub judice.

Only after all that – assuming they’re not out time by then – would the Menezes family have a shot at civil litigation – which would add another 6-12 months on anyway.

It’s also going to be the case that the Met will not start any serious disciplinary proceedings against officers until an criminal trial(s) are disposed of and quite how long such proceedings might take is anyone’s guess as, if things run true to form, anyone who might face a disciplinary will, by then, have developed some sort of ailment – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – which means they’ll be unfit to attend any such proceeding until…

…well, until they’ve had time to rack up enough in the way of additional pension contributions to make retirement from the Met on ‘medical grounds’ a viable option.

What we’ll be left with in, at best, a junior officer or two in the frame for a bollocking over minor mistakes while all the command officers, including Blair himself, will be safely out of the way and retired on nice fat pensions before the shit get anywhere near the fan, let alone hits it.

That’s modern day Britain for you – fuck justice, we have bureaucracy at its best.