Misconduct case dropped for Met officer who shot unarmed man during foiled prison break
A Metropolitan Police firearms officer, known only as W80, will not face a misconduct hearing about the fatal shooting of Jermaine Baker in 2015. The hearing, tied to professional standards around the use of force, has been discontinued after years of legal wrangling and public scrutiny. The decision marks a definitive end to one of the UK’s most protracted policing accountability cases.
Mr. Baker, a 31-year-old father of two from Tottenham, was killed during a botched attempt to derail a prison escape near Wood Green Crown Court in north London. He was sitting in the front passenger seat of a stolen car when he was shot at close range by W80, a counter-terrorism firearms officer trained to carry a gun since 1998. Investigators determined that an imitation firearm was later found in the vehicle, complicating the narrative around the use of force that day.
The misconduct proceedings against W80 were initiated after the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) directed that the officer face a hearing, despite prosecutors in 2017 saying there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges. The IOPC’s stance was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023, which ruled in favour of continuing the misconduct process, prompting renewed public and legal focus on the case.
Panel chairman Chris McKay announced that the full reasons for the decision would follow within five working days of the hearing’s discontinuation. The Metropolitan Police described the outcome as the appropriate one in light of the criminal investigation and a public inquiry into Mr. Baker’s death, both of which concluded that the shooting was lawful and that the operation to stop the attempted prison break was conducted under severe time pressure.
Outside New Scotland Yard, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley acknowledged the toll the process had taken. He said the decision should not undermine the reality that officers faced real, immediate threats in fast-moving operations. He also highlighted the broader concern about how policing decisions, made under pressure, are reviewed later with the benefit of hindsight, suggesting reforms to reduce the potential for protracted legal challenges against officers in similar scenarios.
A decade of legal battles and public scrutiny
The Baker shooting quickly became a flashpoint for debates about use of force, accountability, and the balance between public safety and individual rights. The IOPC has urged a fair but robust accountability framework, while police representatives have argued that the lengthy process can undermine the morale and operational effectiveness of officers who put themselves at risk to protect the public.
Margaret Smith, Mr. Baker’s mother, stated that she was not surprised by the case’s dismissal and stressed the ongoing impact of the decade-long process on her family. She emphasised that her family’s priority remains grieving in private and preserving Jermaine’s memory, while calling for a more efficient system to handle such cases in the future.
Reactions from policing bodies and watchdogs
Paula Dodds, chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation, emphasised the demanding nature of firearms work in London and called for greater understanding among decision-makers within the criminal justice system for the environments officers operate in. The IOPC’s Amanda Rowe noted the broader implications of delays for both families and officers alike and reaffirmed the complexity of the accountability landscape in modern policing.
The case’s end does not erase the tragedy of Jermaine Baker’s death. It, however, closes a long chapter in a case that highlighted tensions between rapid enforcement actions in the field and the judicial processes that review those actions after the fact. The public inquiry, which concluded in 2022 that Mr. Baker was lawfully killed, remains a key element of the broader narrative surrounding this incident.
As policing continues to evolve, stakeholders say reforms should focus on faster, clearer accountability pathways that preserve the safety and confidence of both officers and the communities they serve.
