Anonymity has been granted to key Metropolitan Police officers deployed in the covert operation which led to Jermaine Baker’s death on 11 December 2015, including the officer who fired the fatal shot, known by the cipher W80. Anonymity was refused for FE16, who had subsequently retired from service following an IOPC recommendation that his role as Tactical Firearms Commander gave rise to a case to answer for misconduct.
The rulings were made on the basis of potential risks to operational deployment and of reprisal from those involved in organised crime. The Chairman was emphatic, however, that this did not include Mr Baker himself:
“[T]here is no material whatsoever to indicate that Jermaine Baker was a member of the Tottenham Turks or was linked to organised crime […] Nor is there any specific material to suggest that his death which occurred 5 years and 3 months ago is seen as a particular reason for a revenge attack on any MPS officer who was engaged in Operation Ankaa, whose remit was to prevent the springing of Izzet Eren, one of, if not the leader of the Tottenham Turks.”
“It is unfortunate to say the least that for far too long the MPS, one of whose officers, W80, had shot and killed Jermaine Baker, did nothing to dispel, and may well have been responsible for perpetuating the myth that even though Jermaine Baker was involved in serious crime on the morning of 11/12/15, he was by no stretch of the imagination someone who could be described as a ‘major player’.”
Michael Oswald and Amy Ooi act for the family of Mr Baker.
