Give armed police more legal protection, says Met chief, as officer cleared of Chris Kaba murder forced into hiding
23 October 2024, 07:06 | Updated: 23 October 2024, 07:23
The Met Police chief is pushing for armed police to be shielded from prosecution, amid concerns about the impact of criminal investigations on firearms officers following the trial over the death of Chris Kaba.
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Mark Rowley wants armed police to be exempt from criminal charges for shootings unless prosecutors can prove that the officer in question departed from training.
Rowley also wants investigations to be sped up so officers are mired in criminal investigations and disciplinary proceedings for less long, the Times reported.
He has called the accountability system "broken" and said he is worried it might lead to a loss of morale among firearms officers.
Meanwhile the Home Secretary is reviving a former Conservative review into how armed officers are held accountable following shootings.
It comes after a jury took just three hours to acquit firearms officer Martyn Blake of the shooting of alleged violent gangster and gunman Chris Kaba in September 2022.
The acquittal raised questions of why Blake had been prosecuted in the first place, and why the court had allowed him to be named publicly.
It emerged on Tuesday that Kaba's former gang '67' had put out a £10,000 bounty on Mr Blake after the shooting. He has now gone into hiding.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is separately reviewing whether Mr Blake should still face disciplinary proceedings, which could lead to him being fired from the police.
The prosecution of the officer who shot Chris Kaba was a 'catastrophic waste of resources', says criminal barrister
Keir Starmer would not be drawn into commenting on the jury decision in the trial, but told reporters his Government would pick up the accountability review launched by the previous Tory administration.
Suella Braverman pledged to review the ways that firearms officers who take fatal shots are held accountable when she was home secretary in 2023.
Plans to give swifter decisions to suspended officers and more clarity to victims were among the changes touted by the previous government.
Tory ministers also considered raising the threshold for referring firearms officers for prosecution.
Speaking on the way to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, Starmer told reporters: "We are going to pick that up and complete that accountability review because it is important that the public have confidence in the police including of course the armed police."
Caller Milad repsonds to the Chris Kaba case
The Prime Minister added: "It's also important that the police know that we have confidence in them doing a very difficult job so we will pick that up.
"The Home Secretary will make a statement tomorrow updating the House on where we've got with that review, so further details will be available to you tomorrow (Wednesday)."
Blake, 40, stood trial at the Old Bailey after shooting the 24-year-old through the front windscreen of an Audi Q8 in Streatham, south-east London, on September 5 2022.
The car had been used as a getaway vehicle in a shooting the previous evening, and was hemmed in by police cars in Kirkstall Gardens after an officer recognised its registration number.
Mr Kaba drove backwards and forwards trying to ram his way free, which Mr Blake told jurors made him believe one of his colleagues was about to die, and so he opened fire to stop the car.
On Monday, he was cleared of murder.
During pre-trial legal submissions, it was alleged those linked to the 67 gang, of which Kaba was a core member, were seeking to kill a police officer in retribution for the acquittal, according to The Sun.
Sgt Blake’s counsel Patrick Gibbs KC quoted an intelligence report about the bounty, saying: “The sum on offer was £10,000 . . . in exchange for personal details of Martyn Blake, including addresses and vehicle registration marks.
“The threat of harm was directed at both Mr Blake and his family.”
An ex-colleague stated: “Martyn will be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life."
Supt Ross McKibbin, of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said: “In nearly 30 years of service, I have never been more concerned about the welfare of an officer.”
Kaba was a "core member" of one of London's most dangerous criminal gangs and was allegedly directly linked to two shootings in the six days before he was shot dead by police.
The 24-year-old was said to have shot a rival in the legs at a nightclub six days before he died in September 2022, and would have stood trial for attempted murder had he survived.
He was also found to have gunshot residue on his sleeve and a balaclava in his pocket on the night he was killed by a police marksman, which it was suggested was evidence he had been involved in a second shooting the previous night.
He had previous convictions for possession of weapons, and the Audi that he was driving when he was killed was linked to three previous firearms incidents in five months.
