Police officer still faces sack despite being cleared of shooting Chris Kaba
The police officer acquitted of murdering Chris Kaba could still face the sack, despite being found not guilty at trial.
Officer Martyn Blake was cleared of Kaba’s murder at the Old Bailey on Monday after shooting the 24-year-old through the windscreen of the Audi two years ago.
Blake will be immediately reinstated to his job but will need to undergo refresher training before being deployed operationally. Watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will decide whether he should face disciplinary proceedings.
The IOPC could still charge Blake for gross misconduct for shooting Kaba in Streatham Hill, South London, following a police chase.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has faced calls to intervene to ensure Blake is fully reinstated and does not face any extra disciplinary action.
Tory leader hopeful Robert Jenrick has called for urgent intervention from Cooper, and defended Blake for “doing his job in incredibly difficult circumstances”.
He told The Telegraph: “Martyn Blake was hauled through the courts for doing his job in incredibly difficult circumstances. He was acquitted by a jury in hours – the case is closed.
“The IOPC must now stop pursuing Sgt Blake and end this saga by dropping any further investigations immediately – especially given what we now know about Chris Kaba.
“The IOPC ultimately reports to Yvette Cooper. She must end this farce, if necessary by replacing the director general, so firearms officers have the confidence they need to protect the public.”
Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, is also pushing for government reform to make it harder to prosecute the police by raising the threshold for what qualifies as gross misconduct.
Before Kaba was shot dead, police knew the Audi Q8 had been used as a getaway car in Brixton, South London, the night before, but they did not know it was Kaba driving it.
They also knew it was linked to the shooting six days previous at the Oval Space nightclub in Hackney, for which Kaba would have faced an attempted murder charge.
Before Blake’s trial, his lawyers argued that the jury should hear about Kaba’s history as it would explain why he was running from police, but in the end, it was never revealed as a senior judge said it had no bearing on the issues jurors were deciding upon.
Following Blake’s acquittal, Kaba’s family said they were “devastated” and would keep fighting for justice for their son. His heartbroken mother said, “police have taken my son away from me”.
She told the BBC: “My heart is broken, I am speechless, my heart is broken. Police have taken Chris from me, I don’t know what to say. But I want justice to be done for Chris. This is very racist, it’s not good. I need justice to be done, criminal justice.”
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