IOPC confirms gross misconduct decision following Supreme Court ruling

The officer who fatally shot Jermaine Baker in London in December 2015 is to face a gross misconduct hearing after the IOPC reviewed its decision that he had a disciplinary case to answer for the shooting.

The case was at the centre of a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year which provided clarity about how police officers who use force are held to account.

We independently investigated Mr Baker’s death and the officer involved was criminally interviewed by our investigators. Following the conclusion of our investigation in December 2016, a file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service who decided not to bring any criminal charges.

We also decided there was a disciplinary case to answer for the officer, known as W80, however the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) disagreed. 

We directed them to hold gross misconduct proceedings. In 2018, W80, supported by the MPS, exercised his right to challenge our decision through the courts. This ended up in the Supreme Court this July who ruled in our favour.

Due to the delay caused by the legal proceedings and some new evidence from the public inquiry into Mr Baker’s death, we decided to review our decision and invited representations from W80 and Mr Baker’s family. Having considered these and taken additional independent advice, which we received last week, we have confirmed our original decision that the officer should face a disciplinary hearing. 

Given recent commentary about this case, we have asked the MPS to consider asking another force to hold the hearing to provide additional reassurance about the independence of the process. 

IOPC Acting Director General Tom Whiting said: “This case has been through protracted legal proceedings which have been extremely challenging for everyone involved, not least W80 himself and Jermaine’s family. 

“Following the Supreme Court ruling, we carefully reviewed our original decision. We considered evidence from the public inquiry, we invited additional representations from all parties, and sought additional independent assurance. 

“We have now upheld our original decision that W80 should face a gross misconduct hearing. This isn’t a decision we have taken lightly, but we believe that it was the right decision in 2015 and remains so following the clear ruling from the Supreme Court in July.

“It’s important to stress that the IOPC does not decide whether or not W80’s actions amounted to gross misconduct – that is the role of the hearing panel who will come to a decision after considering all of the evidence.”