REGRET. There's a weasel word if ever I heard one. It's been used many times this week in connection with the killing of the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder by our police.

Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Ian Blair used the word in connection with "the death" and so did the Prime Minister.

"Regret" is not the word I would choose.

I presume the two Blairs used it for a reason, but perhaps they did not think about the impression the word gives.

I write every day and choose words with care, because the choice of one rather than another, similar one, can colour the meaning of what you write.

To take a simple example, if I write that Joe Bloggs "claimed" he was the a victim of something, the implication is that there is some doubt and I am inviting you not to believe him.

"Said" is a neutral word and readers can make up their own minds as to the truth of the statement.

Likewise if I describe a woman as "slim", the implication is that she is pretty, whereas if I say she is "thin" I am using a more critical word.

"Regret" has no colour or human-ity, about it so it's useful when the speaker wants to convey an impression of sorrow without actually meaning it. I cannot believe the two Blairs meant to give that unfeeling impression.

Ten Downing Street might issue a letter expressing regret that so and so had resigned from the cabinet to spend more time with his family, when the truth is that the minister has been sacked for incompetence or getting his name in the media once too often and becoming an embarrassment.

A company might stick up a notice saying it regretted to announce the death of Mr Jones after 37 years in accounts, when the bosses can't remember the guy, but have to say something.

You might say you regret being unable to attend an official function, when what you really mean is that you would rather watch paint dry.

Someone might say "you'll regret that later" when a friend decides to have another drink. And yes, he does regret it when he wakes up with a stinking hangover, but he won't be feeling any compassion for anyone apart from himself.

That's why I think regret is not the word to choose when an innocent man has been killed by police.

The Blairs should have been on their knees begging forgiveness from the family of a man, who died in terror, if witness reports on television over the weekend are to be believed. They should not keep justifying what happened, but leave that until after the facts come out at the inquiry. People know what is happening in London and know it is hard for the police.

Mr de Menezes' crime was living in a suspicious area, leaving his home wearing a heavy jacket on a hot day and running away when challenged.

So does that make his death his fault?

Perhaps he ran away because he was scared and because it never struck him that English police would shoot him just for running away.

Perhaps he believed that Britain is a country where police don't do that sort of thing.