Mark Rowley: No other country would prosecute someone trying to save lives
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The decision to prosecute an armed officer who crashed while racing to the scene of a terrorist attack in London has been described as “appalling” by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
Sir Mark Rowley said no other country in the world would haul one of its most highly trained officers before the courts for bravely trying to preserve life, calling for the system of accountability to be urgently reviewed.
His comments came after a jury at Southwark Crown Court cleared Pc Paul Fisher of dangerous driving following a six-day trial.
The 46-year-old firearms officer had been responding to a stabbing spree by terrorist Sudesh Amman in Streatham, south London, in February 2020 when he lost control of his unmarked BMW X5 and hit two other cars and a wall.
It took almost four years for the case to come to court, but Mr Fisher was cleared by a jury after five hours of deliberations.
Amman, who was under surveillance by counter-terrorism police, stabbed two members of the public with a knife he grabbed from a hardware store. Little over a minute later, he was shot dead by armed undercover officers.
Mr Fisher had been on a surveillance operation with two other armed officers at the time of the crash, in which two members of the public suffered minor injuries.
While he admitted letting people down with the “split-second error”, he vehemently denied dangerous driving. Kevin Baumber, his barrister, said: “The last thing intended was any kind of harm at all. Not all collisions are crimes.”
In a statement issued after the verdict, Sir Mark said: “If an officer makes honest mistakes under the most immense pressure while rushing to a live terrorist incident, it cannot be right this is dealt with by a criminal trial nearly four years later. That’s why the treatment of this brave officer by the systems of accountability is appalling.
“No other country in the world would haul one of its most highly trained officers before a court for responding to one of the most serious incidents we can deal with and doing their utmost to preserve life.
“The driving errors made by Pc Fisher were made under the most intense pressure while trying to protect members of the public from a terrorist. The right answer would have been a rapid review of this incident, warnings, re-training and testing. Instead, there have been almost four years of stress.
“I routinely hear from officers who avoid pursuits or indeed even being trained because they know their split-second, pressured decisions will be unpicked over many years. This case further undermines the confidence of all officers using their powers to keep the public safe.
“The system has to change. The alternative is colleagues becoming more scared of an imbalanced and disproportionate system than they are of facing terrorists and criminals intent on attacking communities.”
Sir Mark said that officers “fully expect to be held accountable for their actions, but they need to know the system holding them to account will be swift, fair, competent, and recognise the split-second decisions made every single day. The current set-up clearly fails those tests”.
He said he was “very grateful the Home Office and Attorney General are conducting a thorough review to find a more appropriate balance for accountability. We will continue to support their officials in any way possible through this process”.
Following the verdict, Ken Marsh, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: “Frankly this case should never have got to court.
“It’s perverse that a police officer doing the job the public would expect – namely courageously heading towards the danger of a terrorist attack – could find themselves in the dock with their career on the line.
“Let’s remember our colleagues put their lives in danger that day to protect the public. It is what we do. The public will rightly be appalled that brave police officers responding to a terrorist attack can be treated in such a manner.
“We must do better, or we risk a society where police officers will be left questioning whether they should head towards that danger. That potential hesitation – caused by the hindsight brigade – will cost lives.
“That can’t be right. We now ask that Pc Paul Fisher is allowed to carry on his career and do the job the public expect of him.”
A CPS spokesman said: “The CPS does not decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence – we make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for the court to consider.
“In this case, we decided it was appropriate for a court to consider one charge of dangerous driving. The jury found the defendant not guilty and we respect its verdict.”
