Disciplinary panel finds Met officer who shot Jermaine Baker has no case to answer

A misconduct panel has decided that the Met Police officer who fatally shot Jermaine Baker in London in 2015 has no disciplinary case to answer.

The officer – known as W80 – had been facing a disciplinary hearing which began on 6 October to face an allegation that he used excessive force when he shot and killed Mr Baker during a police operation in Wood Green on 11 December, 2015.

After the Met presented the evidence for the gross misconduct hearing, an application was made on behalf of W80 to dismiss the allegations. This was accepted by the panel, which found he did not have a case to answer, and we await its rationale.

The IOPC investigation into the shooting of Mr Baker was completed in 12 months. After considering all the evidence and applying the legal framework that governs our work, we found in 2016 that there was sufficient evidence upon which, on the balance of probabilities, a disciplinary panel could make a finding of misconduct.

The threshold which the IOPC must apply is set out in legislation and Home Office guidance and when the case to answer test is met, the officer is required to attend a misconduct hearing.

It’s important to reiterate that the IOPC does not decide whether an officer’s actions amount to gross misconduct - only a hearing panel can make that decision after reviewing the evidence.

Unfortunately for everyone impacted by this case, since the completion of our investigation it has been the subject of extremely protracted legal proceedings that resulted in the High Court and Supreme Court both ruling that the IOPC had correctly applied the law when reaching our decision that the officer should attend a misconduct hearing.

We are pleased the matter has finally reached a conclusion.

IOPC Director Amanda Rowe said: “Our thoughts remain with Jermaine Baker’s family and friends and everyone impacted by his death.

“This case highlights the complexities of the police accountability system, which leave it open to legal challenges and lengthy delays that have a detrimental impact on the confidence of both the public and the police officers involved. We do not underestimate the impact these delays have had on Mr Baker’s family, the officer involved, and everyone affected.

“We have long called for a review of end-to-end processes and said that the complaints and disciplinary system need fundamental reform - to reduce complexity and delays and ensure the system carries the confidence of both the public and police.

“The Government has announced its intention to commission a review to address systemic barriers to timeliness in the misconduct system and we look forward to supporting that important work. We also welcome new measures being put in place by the Government as part of its police accountability review that will improve timeliness and provide much-needed clarity on the legislative framework.”

Timeline of events

Jermaine Baker was shot dead by W80 on 11 December 2015.

Our predecessor body, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) completed an independent investigation and issued its final report to the MPS on 23 December 2016. The report set out the investigator’s opinion that W80 had a case to answer for gross misconduct. It applied the civil law test for self-defence, that is that any honest but mistaken belief held by W80 concerning the danger he faced could only be relied upon if it was an objectively reasonable mistake to have made. The IPCC report concluded that, while there was insufficient evidence available for a reasonable tribunal to be able to find that W80’s belief that he was in imminent danger was not an honestly held one, a reasonable tribunal could find, in view of the conflicting evidence, that W80’s belief was not a reasonable one. At the same time, we referred the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to determine whether any officer should be charged with a criminal offence.

On 14 June 2017, the CPS decided not to charge any police officers, including W80. That decision was confirmed on 19 March 2018, after Mr Baker’s family requested a review under the Victim’s Right of Review Scheme.

On 5 September 2017, the MPS outlined its view that W80 did not have a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct.

On 8 January 2018, the IPCC became the IOPC.

On 19 March 2018, we wrote to the MPS to say W80 should face gross misconduct proceedings.

The MPS replied on 19 April 2018 that it did not agree with the recommendation that W80 should face gross misconduct proceedings and had decided not to follow it.

On 1 May 2018 we wrote to the MPS directing them, to start disciplinary proceedings against W80.

W80 then began a legal challenge by way of judicial review on the grounds that the IOPC had erred by applying the civil law test for self-defence in respect of the use of force standard.

On 12 February 2020, the Home Secretary announced an independent inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, to investigate the circumstances Mr Baker’s death.

On 5 July 2022, the inquiry report was published. It found that W80 shot Jermaine Baker because he honestly believed that Mr Baker posed a lethal threat and honestly believed it was reasonably necessary for him to shoot Mr Baker to defend himself. As a result, the report concluded that Mr Baker was lawfully killed. The legal tests applied at the inquiry are different to those that must be considered when deciding if there is a case to answer.

The MPS contacted the IOPC on 9 September 2022 requesting that we reconsider the May 2018 decision to direct a misconduct hearing for W80 because of new evidence made available publicly in the inquiry. We agreed to do this and on 4 November 2022 we sought representations from the parties.

Judicial review proceedings brought by W80 ran alongside and continued after the inquiry, culminating in a judgement handed down from the Supreme Court on 5 July 2023. The Supreme Court held that the test to be applied in disciplinary proceedings is the civil law test, and that the IOPC had applied the correct test when directing the disciplinary proceedings against Officer W80.

Following this decision, the IOPC invited further representations from the parties regarding the directions.

The IOPC decision maker then considered all representations, and sought additional independent assurance, which we received on 25 September 2023.

We informed W80, the MPS and Mr Baker’s family that we are upholding our original decision on 29 September 2023. It is now the Appropriate Authority’s responsibility to comply with this direction and ensure that disciplinary proceedings for gross misconduct against W80 are proceeded with to a proper conclusion.

The MPS hold a disciplinary hearing for W80 from 6 - 17 October 2025.