Mother vows for justice as IOPC brings case against Met firearms officer

The mother of a man shot dead by police has vowed to get justice for her son as the court of appeal is to hear a challenge to police use of force.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is bringing the case against a Metropolitan police officer known as W80, who fired a fatal shot killing 28-year-old Jermaine Baker, from Tottenham, north London, in December 2015.

Baker was shot dead by an armed officer during a breakout attempt near Wood Green crown court. He died from a single gunshot wound. Criminal charges against W80 were dropped in 2017.

Baker’s mother, Margaret Smith, welcomed the IOPC’s decision to challenge W80 in the court of appeal. “Because of Black Lives Matter protests across the world people are looking at the issue of police use of force,” she told the Guardian.

“I welcome what the IOPC is doing bringing this case. I want justice for my child’s death. He should not be lying in a cemetery. He should be walking the streets with the rest of the group he was with at the time he was shot. The others went to prison and have now been released. That should have happened to Jermaine too.

“This case is an important one. I’m fighting not just for Jermaine but for all the mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters who have lost their loved one in circumstances like this.”

The case focuses on when use of force by a police officer is or is not justified. W80 is arguing that use of force is justified if an officer “honestly” believes a particular situation requires it. The IOPC says that if that belief, even if honestly held, is unreasonable or irrational, police should not be allowed to escape sanctions for use of force.

Baker was among a group of men trying to free Izzet Eren as he was transported from Wormwood Scrubs prison to be sentenced for a firearms offence.

Officer W80 claimed he had acted in self-defence, fearing Baker was reaching for a gun. No firearm was found but police did recover an imitation Uzi machine gun in the rear of the car.

In 2019 the IOPC directed the Met police to launch disciplinary proceedings into the officer over alleged use of excessive force.

W80 disagreed with this directive and took a case to the high court. The court found that the IOPC had applied the wrong legal tests to order the gross misconduct hearing and quashed the directive.

The IOPC general director, Michael Lockwood, said: “We consider that if no sanction is available against an officer who uses force, possibly lethal force, on the basis of an unreasonable belief, that public confidence will be undermined. Given the national reaction and debate sparked by the tragic death of George Floyd in the United States now more than ever we should not be weakening police accountability.”

Michael Oswald, of Bhatt Murphy solicitors, representing Baker’s family, said: “The Metropolitan Police Service and the National Police Chiefs’ Council are set to ask the court of appeal to weaken police accountability for the use of force in this country. Their stance gives the lie to their very public statements purporting to stand in support of calls for police accountability in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

“It is inexplicable in the face of almost daily reports of deeply troubling police treatment of black and ethnic minority people, and the resulting risk to public confidence in policing amongst the very communities where this is most necessary.”

A Met spokesperson said: “The shooting of Mr Baker was subject to an independent investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The IOPC investigator’s opinion was that the officer known as W80 had a case to answer for gross misconduct in connection with that shooting. The Met disagreed with the IOPC’s subsequent recommendation that W80 should face misconduct proceedings. The IOPC then directed the Met to hold a misconduct hearing. W80 challenged the IOPC’s direction by way of judicial review and last August the divisional court found in W80’s favour; it held that the IOPC had applied the wrong legal test for self-defence and quashed the IOPC’s direction. Following the ruling, the IOPC decided to appeal. The Met is an interested party to these proceedings.”

Matt Twist, a deputy assistant commissioner, said: “Our thoughts remain with all those who have been affected by this matter, in particular the family of Jermaine Baker, and W80. ”

W80’s lawyer, Scott Ingram of Slater & Gordon Solicitors, has been approached for comment.