Jermaine Baker:' Botched police operation led to man's fatal shooting'

Jermaine Baker was shot dead near Wood Green Crown Court in north London

The police operation that led to firearms officers fatally shooting an unarmed man was "botched and unprofessional", an inquest has heard.

Jermaine Baker was shot dead by an armed officer during a foiled attempt to free an inmate from a prison van near Wood Green Crown Court in 2015.

The police marksman known as W80 fired a single fatal shot as he thought Mr Baker was reaching for a gun.

Police had been told the men only had a replica firearm, the inquest heard.

No firearm was found apart from an imitation Uzi machine gun in the rear of the car.

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Phillippa Kaufmann QC, representing Mr Baker's family, told the inquiry on Wednesday that his relatives were furious that W80 was working in a firearms training role.

Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick "has demonstrated to the family that she is not at all interested in holding her officers to account, either to their code of ethics or to the rule of law", Ms Kaufmann said.

She added: "The family look to the commissioner, to her own responsibility for Jermaine's death, and her personal responsibility to affect change."

An imitation firearm was later found in the rear of the car Mr Baker had been sitting in

Mr Baker, 28, who was from Tottenham, had been among a group of men who were trying to free Izzet Eren from a prison van in north London on 11 December 2015.

The inquiry also heard intelligence up to the morning of the shooting suggested the gang were having trouble sourcing a real gun and had failed to do so.

Issues about failure to communicate intelligence between different police teams were raised at the hearing.

W80 fired a single shot at Mr Baker because he said he thought he saw him moving his arms, and that he was trying to get a gun.

Margaret Smith, Mr Baker's mother, told the inquiry her son was not viewed as a human being by police.

She added: "The value of his life was forgotten in the police officers' plan.

"And in the end his life was written off by the premature and unreasonable judgment of W80."

'Unprofessional'

Duncan Penny QC, for W80, told the inquiry that the marksman "genuinely and honestly believed based upon the information which had been provided to him, and upon what he perceived Mr Baker to be doing when challenged, that there was an imminent threat to his life and to the lives of his colleagues."

Ms Kaufmann said Mr Baker's family wanted to know "how did W80, a highly trained firearms officer, a firearms instructor, conclude that Jermaine was reaching for a gun when he had not even given Jermaine time to comply with his instructions?"

She described the police operation as "botched and unprofessional".

The inquiry, which is being held at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in central London, continues.