Jermaine Baker: Misconduct hearing for firearms officer

Jermaine Baker was shot near Wood Green Crown Court

A firearms officer who killed an unarmed man eight years ago will face a misconduct hearing "at the earliest opportunity", the Met Police has said.

W80 shot Jermaine Baker, from Tottenham, during a foiled attempt to free an inmate from a prison van near Wood Green Crown Court in 2015.

The Met supported the officer to fight the need for misconduct proceedings.

But the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in July.

On Monday, the Met Police rejected the suggestion another force should run the proceedings but said a member of the misconduct hearing panel will be from another force. It will be chaired by an independent lawyer.

• Officer who shot man dead must face hearing - IOPC

The force said: "Given these events took place eight years ago and the ongoing process of investigation and inquiry has had a significant impact on all concerned, it is in everyone's interests we proceed to the misconduct hearing and conclude this matter at the earliest opportunity.

"Our position remains that we do not accept the Met's objections to the IOPC's earlier direction to hold a gross misconduct hearing, or our wider call for support and legal reassurance for armed officers, impinges upon our independence, nor the impartiality of the misconduct hearing process."

It said the length of time being taken to resolve the case shows the need for a government review of how firearms officers are held to account when they kill someone.

An IOPC spokesperson said: "We've raised our concerns about the importance of public confidence in the independence of the process and those concerns remain.

"We note the Met's response and it is now the force's duty to bring the proceedings to their proper conclusion."

Mr Baker was among a group of men trying to free Izzet Eren and his co-defendant as they were transported from Wormwood Scrubs to be sentenced for a firearms offence in December 2015.

A number of men were jailed in 2016 for their parts in the plot.

A public inquiry in July 2022 found Mr Baker had been "lawfully killed" but said police made numerous failures in the planning and execution of the operation.

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