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The family of a man shot dead by a police officer in a foiled prison break have accused Scotland Yard of evading accountability after a case against the marksman was thrown out.
The officer, known only as W80, shot Jermaine Baker as police stopped a plot to snatch two prisoners from a van near Wood Green crown court in 2015.
Misconduct proceedings against W80 began last week at Palestra House after almost a decade of legal wrangling over the case. He was eventually accused of breaching professional standards over the use of force.
But on Wednesday the case was dismissed after the panel’s chair, Chris McKay, ruled there was no case to answer. He said the panel’s full reasons for the decision would be issued in the next five days.
Baker’s family said there was no justification for the killing and questioned how W80’s action had escaped scrutiny. The police watchdog said the case has dented public confidence in police accountability.
Baker, a father of two from Tottenham, north London, was shot at close range by counter-terrorism specialist firearms officer W80, who thought he was reaching for a gun.
Baker, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of a stolen Audi A6, was unarmed. An imitation firearm was later found in the back of the Audi, the misconduct hearing previously heard.
W80 was in the “highest tier” of armed officers in the country and had been trained to carry a gun since 1998.
Prosecutors said in 2017 that there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges over the shooting, but the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) directed that the officer should face misconduct proceedings, prompting a lengthy legal dispute between the watchdog and the Metropolitan police.
In 2023, the supreme court found in the IOPC’s favour paving the way for misconduct hearing. There was also a public inquiry into Baker’s death, that concluded in 2022 that he had been lawfully killed.
Margaret Smith, the mother of Jermaine Baker, said she was not surprised by the decision. She said: “Since the day almost 10 years ago that my son Jermaine was shot and killed by W80, the Metropolitan police has taken every possible step to avoid their officer or their organisation from facing scrutiny and accountability for his death.
“That included going all the way to the supreme court to avoid W80 facing disciplinary proceedings. Against that background, my family and I never had any faith in this gross misconduct hearing.
The IOPC director, Amanda Rowe, said: “This case highlights the complexities of the police accountability system, which leave it open to legal challenges and lengthy delays that have a detrimental impact on the confidence of both the public and the police officers involved.
“We have long called for a review of end-to-end processes and said that the complaints and disciplinary system need fundamental reform.”
Mark Rowley, the Met commissioner, welcomed the decision but accepted that the system needed reform. Speaking outside New Scotland Yard, he said: “Officers will be encouraged by the fact this has been dismissed – it will give them some confidence that the right decision has been reached in the end.”
He said W80 had endured “decade of legal madness” in which his life “put was on hold”.
Rowley added: “We were very clear with the IOPC that we weren’t sure this hearing was necessary, but the more important message today is the system itself, the regulations which hold police to account do not have the right balance.
“They’re exploited too often by criminals and their legal teams to undermine police officers’ confidence, and we need a system which looks fairly at split-second decisions taken by officers in the most difficult operational moments.”
He urged the government to act on an independent review of police accountability published earlier this year, adding: “Until we have a more just and more timely system, it will continue to crush the spirit and confidence of good officers who go out there every day to police London and to keep us all safe.”
