Metropolitan Police marksman faces sack a decade after shooting dead gangster during prison break bid

A Metropolitan Police officer is facing the sack a decade after shooting dead a gangster during an attempted prison break.

The Scotland Yard marksman, who is known as cypher W80, fired the fatal shot at Jermaine Baker, 28, on December 11, 2015.

The father-of-two was behind a plot to assist two prisoners — including Turkish mafia boss Izzet Eren — escape as they were being driven to Wood Green Crown Court, north London in a custody van.

However, Baker’s car was bugged as part of an "intelligence operation" designed to prevent the suspects from escaping custody.

Father-of-two Jermaine Baker, 28, died when he was shot by a Met marksman known only as W80 near Wood Green Crown Court (PA)

Baker, a career criminal who was unarmed during the foiled operation, was swooped on by officers and killed by W80 with a single bullet to the wrist and neck.

An imitation Uzi submachine gun was discovered in the back of Baker’s car and the surviving members of the plotters were jailed for a total of 27 years.

But W80 is set to appear before a disciplinary panel next autumn and faces being dismissed from the Met if found guilty of gross misconduct.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police watchdog, ordered the force to hold the two-week hearing in October.

Shortly after Baker’s death in 2015, W80 was referred to the IOPC under standard procedure in all police shooting cases.

Jermaine Baker was a career criminal who was unarmed during the foiled operation (PA)

A year later, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, the IOPC'S predecessor, found that W80 had a case to answer for lethal use of force and filed a report to the Crown Prosecution Service.

However, W80 returned to work in 2017 after prosecutors ruled that they should not face charges.

In 2019, the IOPC, having inherited the investigation from the IPCC, ordered the Met to launch disciplinary proceedings against W80.

That same year, the High Court overturned the IPOC’s move to force the Met to hold a disciplinary proceedings against W80.

Yet in 2020, the Court of Appeal reversed the High Court judgement and ruled that disciplinary proceedings could commence.

A public inquiry into the shooting concluded that Jermaine Baker was ‘lawfully killed’ (AFP/Getty Images)

In 2022, a public inquiry into the shooting concluded that Baker was "lawfully killed", while W80 fired the shot as it was "honestly believed he posed a lethal threat".

W80 said he would apply for leave to appeal, but the Supreme Court dismissed this request in 2023.

Although W80 is still working with the Met’s firearms command, they are not deployed operationally.

A Met spokesman told The Standard: “A date has been set for a misconduct hearing for firearms officer W80. It will take place between Monday 6 and Friday, October 17.”

The IPOC said: “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.”