04 May 2024 , 15:58
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Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is campaigning for fairer accountability rules for cops
Two gun cops who endured five years of probe hell after shooting a robber were given the all-clear yesterday.
Brooklyn McFarlane was shot in the back in December 2018 while being chased by the Met firearms officers targeting a gang holding up cash security vans.
Sir Mark Rowley said the delay ’will have put untold strain on their professional and personal lives’Credit: Peter Jordan
The 23-year-old was unarmed at the time but was later jailed for 13 years for conspiracy to rob.
Both cops — code-named NX1 and MY55 — were investigated by the police watchdog for more than a year over the incident in Wimbledon, South West London, before being charged with GBH.
After the case against them was dropped ten days before trial in October 2022, the Independent Office for Police Conduct forced the Met to hold a gross misconduct hearing.
Yesterday, a panel found the case not proven — finally putting the cops in the clear 1,978 days after McFarlane was shot.
Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who is campaigning for fairer accountability rules for cops, said the delay “will have put untold strain on their professional and personal lives”.
He said: “Why is it that if an armed officer discharges their weapon during a terrorist incident the system can clear them within months but officers taking on a gang of armed robbers face a five-year ordeal? That isn’t right.”
The gun cops were said to be “immensely relieved” yesterday.
They had believed McFarlane was armed at the time and he continued to flee even after being hit by a single bullet.
He was arrested later. Their second shot hit a building.
The IOPC said: “We respect the panel’s decision.”