Diksha Sundriyal
Hulu’s ‘Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes’ follows the events surrounding the bombing of the London Underground in 2005 and the circumstances that led to the death of a Brazilian man named Jean Charles de Menezes. Over the course of four episodes, the show delivers a raw and troubling look into the way the Metropolitan police messed up their surveillance and ended up killing an innocent man, believing him to be a terrorist. After the mess up, the Met tried to shrug off any blame or responsibility, but there were some people who refused to let things slide. Lana Vandenberghe is one of them.
Lana Vandenberghe Wanted to do the Right Thing
Born and raised in Alberta, Canada, Lana Vandenberghe learned the importance of honesty and truth from a young age. She credits her grandmother for instilling these values in her, while noting that her parents were the ones who tried to keep things quiet. This is why, perhaps, their divorce after around thirty years of marriage came as such a shock to their daughter. In any case, this was perhaps yet another lesson for Lana to understand the importance of speaking whatever is on one’s mind, and she taught the same thing to her daughter, Jacqueline, whom she had when she was 18.
Work brought Lana to the UK, where she was employed at the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) office as a secretary. It was supposed to be just another job to help her make money while considering other options, but a year into it, the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes transpired. When the news of his death first broke, Lana, like everyone else, felt relieved that one of the terrorists had been neutralised. However, when the case came to the IPCC and the CCTV footage from that day, including other evidence, was put on the table, she was just as shocked and horrified to discover that an entirely innocent man had been killed. The photos and other evidence of the case were so haunting that even years after she saw them, the images didn’t leave her mind.
While the IPCC was still investigating the case, Lana remarked that the Met officers weren’t too keen on assuming responsibility for their actions. This led her to believe that the evidence needed to be presented to the public, which she knew would put more pressure on her office and the Met to tell the truth. When she shared her thoughts with her friend, she was put in touch with her friend’s boyfriend, who worked as a producer at a news channel. Over the next few weeks, Lana would stay at the office after hours and use her camera to take pictures of the evidence she eventually handed to the news producer.
Lana Vandenberghe Did Not Expect the Severe Backlash from Her Office
When Lana Vandenberghe acted as the whistleblower, she knew it would come with repercussions, including losing her job. Initially, she tried to act as usual when she went to the office on the day her evidence was used to break the news. Her coworkers speculated on the leak’s identity and wondered how much money they had received for such a selfish act. Lana wanted to tell them that no money was involved in this act and that she did it simply because she wanted the truth to become public. A few days later, she was called into her boss’ office about the leak and was suspended. She did not wait to be fired and resigned from her job. The retaliation, however, did not stop at that.
Sometime later, the cops came knocking at her door and arrested her for theft after raiding her flat. At the police station, she claimed that she had received harsh treatment, which scared her to the point that she was constantly on watch for the cops until all charges against her were dropped, and she knew she was free of danger. However, this sense of freedom took a few months, during which time Lana tried to hold on to her sanity by taking up various jobs, but the paranoia started affecting her social life. Eventually, the charges were dropped, but the memories of being held at the station and its effects lingered.
Despite the suffering it brought her, Lana does not regret leaking the documents. She believes it was the right thing to do, considering that the higher-ups would have tried to bury the information to save themselves. While she knew IPCC would do its job, she was not keen on taking any chances. Moreover, she felt a wave of sympathy for the Menezes family. She got to meet them sometime after the charges against her were dropped. The meeting was an emotional one, where the victim’s family members thanked her for her bravery in bringing the truth to them. Lana, however, does not consider this a heroic act. Her actions aligned with her upbringing, where she was taught to speak out for the truth, no matter what. She stands by that code even today.
Lana Vandenberghe is Enjoying Her Retirement Today
Despite never knowing Jean Charles de Menezes, Lana Vandenberghe considers him an important marker who changed the trajectory of her life. Those events in London will stay with her for the rest of her life, but she left the city behind and returned to Canada to start anew, a couple of years after the shooting. From the looks of it, the 63-year-old is currently residing in Edmonton, Alberta. Around the time Jean Charles’ case was still ongoing, she talked on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Taking A Stand’ and wrote a piece in The Guardian about her experience as the whistleblower. Now, however, those days are long behind her. These days, Lana prefers to live a private life, spending time with her loved ones, especially her granddaughters, Danaea and Cayley.
Lana enjoys indulging in local events, particularly the theatre productions, where she encourages young people to pursue their talents and interests. She also harbours a love for cats and dogs, and even had a furry baby named Callie. She has had a few health troubles in the past. In 2021, she received bariatric surgery and a gastric bypass, which helped her achieve her weight goal and improve her health and quality of life. When the creators of ‘Suspect’ approached her, Lana happily talked to Jeff Pope and gave him critical information that helped shape the show. As an insider in the investigation and a person who had seen the evidence firsthand, she acted as an important source for them to get the details of the case right, as she still advocates for the truth and hopes for justice for Jean Charles.
