Police names withheld in Dean Joseph fatal shooting probe

Dean Joseph was shot in Shepperton Road, Islington

Scotland Yard withheld the names of 16 officers involved in the fatal shooting of a man in north London, the police watchdog has revealed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), was given pseudonyms when it began investigating the death of Dean Joseph, who was shot by police in 2014.

The IPCC said the Met Police took seven weeks to provide the real names.

The Met said it had given the IPCC its "fullest possible support".

The IPCC has called for new guidelines to prevent the situation arising again.

'Extensive conferring'

Mr Joseph was shot twice by a police firearms officer after taking his ex-girlfriend hostage and threatening her with a knife in Islington last September.

In August, an inquest jury found that the 40-year-old, of Northumberland Park, Haringey, was lawfully killed and the IPCC said there was "clear evidence" to support the account of police that the woman's life was in "imminent danger".

However, it criticised the way officers had written up their notes and said "extensive conferring" had taken place.

"The IPCC considered this to be a serious matter," it said.

The watchdog added: "The... ability to carry out a thorough independent investigation into a matter is hindered if it is not provided with officers' true identities.

"These should therefore be provided promptly."

It said one of the pseudonyms used was "G36", which it described as "highly inappropriate" because the weapon used to fire the lethal shots was a G36 rifle.

"It adds a layer of confusion into the officers' accounts," the report said.

"Moreover, the use of this pseudonym...was insensitive in the circumstances."

Timescales agreed

Mr Joseph's family complained that police had conferred with each other immediately after the shooting when writing their individual reports.

However, the IPCC cleared police of a "deliberate attempt" to mislead investigators.

The watchdog found no evidence that any officer involved acted criminally or in a way that would justify disciplinary proceedings.

The officer who shot Mr Joseph did so after concluding the hostage was becoming distressed and Mr Joseph was becoming a greater threat to her and himself, the report stated.

Two bullets were fired, one entered the target's back and the other hit his left arm. On hearing gunfire other officers entered the room and Mr Joseph was placed in the recovery position.

Dean Joseph took his ex-girlfriend hostage in Islington last September

Paramedics entered the room about two minutes later to find one of the firearms officers administering CPR.

Mr Joseph was moved to an ambulance but was declared dead outside Old Street Fire Station at 01:20 BST. The hostage was unharmed.

The IPCC also cleared police for not explicitly warning Mr Joseph about the presence of armed officers and validated the police decision not to deploy non-lethal Taser gun first.

As a result of the case, the police watchdog has recommended a formal agreement between itself and the Met to set out timescales for releasing the true identities of officers referred to in reports with pseudonyms.

A Met Police statement said: "Every request from the IPCC for officers' true identities is risk assessed based upon the nature of the incident and also the intelligence surrounding any identified or perceived threat or risk to officers and their families.

"This process can take a considerable amount of time when there are a number of officers involved."

The Met added it had agreed to fully explore the IPCC's recommendations.