Armed cop who crashed while racing at 80mph to Streatham terror attack scene could still be sacked after being cleared of dangerous driving - as Met Police chief slams his prosecution

An armed policeman who crashed while racing to the scene of the Streatham terrorist attack at 80mph may still face the sack despite being cleared of dangerous driving.

PC Paul Fisher, 46, made a 'split-second error' when he lost control of his unmarked BMW X5 and ran in to the back of a taxi driver's Toyota before hitting a Ford Fiesta and a wall.

Met chief Sir Mark Rowley slammed the prosecution of the former Royal Marine, who reached speeds of more than 80mph and admitted he had 'let people down' - but denied dangerous driving.

He was today cleared by a jury of the charge at Southwark Crown Court but may still face a hearing for gross incompetence, a spokesperson for the police watchdog, the IOPC, told the Guardian.

The police car PC Fisher was driving did not have its blue lights on at the time because they had accidentally been switched off by one of the occupants, his trial at Southwark Crown Court heard.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark branded the prosecution of Mr Fisher 'appalling'.

After the verdict was reached, IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said: 'There is no doubt that PC Fisher was responding to a life-threatening incident in February 2020. A jury, having considered all of the evidence, has acquitted him of dangerous driving and we respect that decision.'

The CPS decided to take no further action against the driver of a second police vehicle, which was not involved in the crash but was in close proximity.

The IOPC added it 'will now consider the evidence from the trial and will be liaising with the force on the next steps.'

A spokesperson added to the Guardian: 'Following our investigation, we agreed with the Metropolitan police that PC Fisher should face a gross incompetence meeting.

'We determined that the officer driving the police vehicle following PC Fisher should also face a gross incompetence meeting. Following today's verdict, we'll be liaising with the force and reviewing this decision.'

The maximum penalty for gross incompetence is immediate dismissal.

The police vehicle, which did have its siren on, had been switched to 'arrival mode' and only had flashing rear red lights displayed, the court was told.

PC Fisher was with two other armed officers in the car, responding after terrorist Sudesh Amman stabbed two people in February 2020.

The 20-year-old grabbed a large kitchen knife from a hardware store on Streatham High Road in south London and stabbed his two victims at random.

A little over a minute later, he was shot dead after turning to charge at two undercover police officers.

PC Fisher was on a surveillance operation at the time of the crash, monitoring Amman after his release from jail ten days earlier.

Speaking outside the court following the verdict, Sir Mark said the case 'undermines the confidence of all officers using their powers to keep the public safe'.

He added: 'Thank God for the common sense of British juries.

'Paul Fisher is a firearms officer who was under the most unimaginable pressure, driving his vehicle at speed to the scene of a live terrorist attack nearly four years ago.

'He clearly made some mistakes on that drive, the right answer would have been some warnings within the organisation, some re-training, some re-testing to getting back to protecting the public.

'And yet here we are, four years later, when him and his family have faced unimaginable pressure having been pursued for that period of time by the Independent Office for Police Conduct and forced into a one-week crown court trial.

'The jury have rightly acquitted him today.'

Defending PC Fisher, Kevin Baumber said: 'The last thing [he] intended was any kind of harm at all. Not all collisions are crimes.'

The drivers of the two vehicles that PC Fisher's car collided with – a man and a woman – were left with minor injuries.

The female officer travelling in the back of the police car suffered a cut head and Fisher was left bleeding from an ear after the crash.

The officer described the moment he found out the terrorist had begun stabbing people as 'pandemonium'.

In a statement given to police, PC Fisher, who joined the force in 2010, said he believed Amman might be wearing a suicide vest and wanted to get to the scene quickly.

He continued: 'The radio operator said, "He's stabbing people".

'I had to use my driving skills to the maximum of my ability to literally save lives. I believed he would continue to stab people. Seconds can make a difference.'

PC Fisher raced to the scene from Gipsy Hill Police Station, reaching speeds of more than 80mph, before his vehicle crashed on a bend, the court heard.

He said: 'I remember braking for the bend, but the vehicle seemed to drift.

'I started emergency braking and steering to the right in an attempt to avoid the vehicle.

'The next thing I remember there was dust everywhere which had come from the airbags. The vehicle was still moving and there was a second impact.

'I was, and still am, annoyed with myself. I failed due to split-second error.'

Giving evidence, he added: 'At no point did my colleagues turn around and say, "Paul, you're driving too fast".

'If my colleagues had said, "You're driving too fast", I would have stopped.

'It was my mistake. I failed that day. I let people down and I can only apologise for that.'

Asked by prosecutor Ben Lloyd if he wanted to get to the scene of the stabbing at 'whatever cost', PC Fisher replied: 'I do not accept that.'

He added: 'The whole way through the drive I had images of someone attacking people on Streatham High Road.'

IOPC acting director general Tom Whiting hit back at Sir Mark's claim that police officers were being treated unfairly.

He said: 'Rigorous independent scrutiny is not a threat to policing, it is a protection and helps the police do their job by making sure they are getting things right and supporting them to fix it when things go wrong.

'We know that accountability and scrutiny can feel deeply uncomfortable for the individuals and organisations involved, but if they are weakened, there is a real risk to public trust.'

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson 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.'