Trial of Met Firearms Officer for Murder of Chris Kaba to Begin

The trial of Metropolitan Police firearms officer Martyn Blake, charged with the murder of Chris Kaba, will begin today at the Old Bailey. The proceedings are set to start at 10:30 a.m. on October 2, 2024, and are expected to last for three weeks.

Chris Kaba, a 24-year-old, was fatally shot by Blake on September 5, 2022, in Streatham, South London. Following an investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service announced the charges on September 20, 2023. Blake, now 40, was identified after an anonymity order was lifted earlier this year.

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This trial marks a significant event in the context of police accountability. Since 1990, there have been 1,904 deaths in or following police custody or contact recorded by INQUEST, but criminal convictions for police officers involved in these deaths have been rare. Only one officer has been found guilty of manslaughter since 1990, in the case of Dalian Atkinson in 2021.

Atkinson, a former professional footballer, died in 2016 after West Mercia police officers used force against him. PC Benjamin Monk was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison in 2021. In total, twelve prosecutions have been brought against on-duty police officers for murder or manslaughter, including this one against Martyn Blake.

Blake’s prosecution is the fourth murder or manslaughter charge involving police shootings, and the second involving a Metropolitan Police officer since the fatal shooting of Azelle Rodney in 2005. The officer involved in Rodney’s case was acquitted in 2015, as were officers in previous similar cases, such as the shootings of James Ashley in 1998 and David Ewin in 1995.