Jermaine Baker 'lawfully killed' in Wood Green police shooting, but inquiry highlights failures
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An unarmed father-of-two was “lawfully killed” by a firearms officer during a foiled prison break, but police made numerous failures in the planning and execution of the operation, an inquiry has concluded.
Jermaine Baker was fatally shot at close range as he sat in the front passenger seat of a stolen Audi A6 near Wood Green Crown Court in north London in December 2015 by police who suspected he and other conspirators were about to free a dangerous prisoner from a custody van.
The 28-year-old, from Tottenham, was unarmed at the time he was shot by a counter-terrorism specialist firearms officer known only as W80, who told the inquiry he thought Mr Baker was reaching for a weapon.
An imitation firearm was later found in the rear of the Audi.
'Life taken for no good reason'
Mr Baker’s mother, Margaret Smith, said the family could not accept the inquiry’s findings and that her son had been raising his hands in surrender before he was shot.
She said: “Jermaine was dead before he got in that car. His life was taken for no good reason – as I have always said, he should have gone to prison like the rest of the men in the car.
“I therefore cannot agree with the judge’s conclusions that Jermaine did not die as a result of these failures. That is a conclusion that I cannot understand and the judge has not explained why he has drawn that conclusion.
“After seven years of waiting and two months of evidence we deserved more.”
Inquiry chairman His Honour Clement Goldstone QC concluded that, while Mr Baker was lawfully killed, there were police failings at almost every stage of the operation, which would “serve as a loud wake-up call” to the next Metropolitan Police Commissioner, following the resignation of Dame Cressida Dick.
He said: “I conclude that, when W80 shot Mr Baker, he held an honest and genuine belief that Mr Baker was moving in order to reach for the firearm.
“As such, W80 perceived that Mr Baker posed a lethal threat… I draw the conclusion, on the balance of probabilities, that the perceived threat from the actions and movement of Mr Baker was such that W80 honestly believed that it was reasonably necessary for him to shoot at Mr Baker.”
Mr Baker’s family had called on the inquiry chairman to consider whether him being black could have been a factor in him being killed, but Mr Goldstone said he “found no evidence to support a finding that race played any part in Mr Baker’s death”.
He also said that W80’s “overall credibility” as a witness “remained largely intact”.
The inquiry chairman highlighted a number of failures, including:
That public safety should have been – but was not – the primary objective of the operation
That intelligence that the conspirators had only been able to source an imitation firearm was not passed on to W80 and others
The “delusional” idea that the operation would succeed in ridding the streets of north London of lethal firearms.
The report said: “The combined effect of the evidence of Detective Inspector Robert Murray, Detective Chief Inspector Neil Williams and Detective Superintendent Craig Turner reveals a determination – bordering at times on the obsessive – to achieve a successful outcome to Operation Ankaa and with it, if not the demise of the Tottenham Turks, then certainly their emasculation.
“Whilst this may have been a laudable objective, it should not have been something that was allowed to go ahead at virtually any cost and to the exclusion of proper and meaningful risk assessments and safety considerations as well as compliance with protocols.
“There can be no doubt that sustained public protection was the prime objective of this operation; the safety of the public was not – and it should have been.”
The most that the officers could have hoped for on the day was the arrest of some “small fry” and the seizure of one gun, the inquiry found.
“The available intelligence supported the likelihood of a failure in achieving sustained public protection save for the ‘small fry’ who were to be arrested at the scene,” the report said.
“The idea that this operation could succeed in ridding the streets of north London of lethal firearms was delusional – realistically one live firearm was the best the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) could hope to recover.
“Unfortunately, those who decided that the operation should run were unable, because of their fixation on their desire to solve the Tottenham Turks problem at a stroke, to appreciate the flaw in their approach.”
The inquiry found a series of technical failures in the planning and execution of the armed operation.
It said that officers had failed to consider any possible outcome other than an armed stop, and had not properly assessed the risk posed by Izzet Eren’s cousin, Ozcan Eren, who was behind the escape plot.
They also failed to engage with the Prison Service about Izzet Eren’s escape risk or tell prison van staff of the planned jail break.
'Arrogant, dismissive attitude'
Failures to keep notes of meetings showed “an arrogant, dismissive attitude towards formality and a failure to appreciate the importance of accountability and maintaining an audit trail”, the inquiry found.
The chairman said that failures in the planning and execution of the armed operation should act as a “loud wake-up call” to the next Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who is due to be appointed this summer.
He said: “I cannot help but believe and observe that, if Mr Baker had not been fatally shot, none of the shortcomings in planning and execution which this inquiry has exposed would have come to light and the operation would have been hailed as an outstanding success by and for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).
“If it achieves little else, therefore, this inquiry should serve as a loud wake-up call to a newly appointed Commissioner.”
Mr Goldstone said in a foreword to the report that previous Met boss Dame Cressida had acknowledged that “not everyone has confidence in us to provide a good service when they need us”.
He said: “Those within the corridors of power in the MPS cannot expect any increase in that level of public confidence, without a willingness to accept and act upon justified criticism.”
The inquiry found that failures by Detective Chief Inspector Neil Williams, who was tactical firearms commander on the day, did not amount to gross negligence and did not cause Mr Baker’s death.
Lawyers for Mr Baker’s family had highlighted failures in handling of intelligence and not using available surveillance tools to reduce the risks of an armed interception.
The inquiry found that Mr Williams did not know where Ozcan Eren was in the early hours of the operation and whether he would be involved in the break-out.
The officer also did not think through the consequences of potentially corrupt prison guards altering the route on the day, it found.
Mr Goldstone said it was “astonishing” that this was not considered.
Responding to the findings of the inquiry into the death of Jermaine Baker, the Metropolitan Police said it had made changes to how firearms operations are run.
In a statement, the force said: “The inquiry report criticises how the policing operation was planned and carried out.
“The inquiry’s conclusions, however, were that these failures did not cause Mr Baker’s death, it was reasonable in the circumstances to assume that someone in the vehicle would be armed with a real firearm, and that Mr Baker was lawfully killed.
“Since Mr Baker’s death we have made changes to how our firearms command operates in London, including how operations are run and overseen, how we train and support officers involved and how we keep records.
“We are always open to improving our capability to tackle the threat of firearms. We will now take time to carefully study the inquiry’s recommendations before responding in more detail.”
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