Shropshire Star

Frontline police are losing the confidence to use their full powers after lengthy prosecutions like the trial of the officer who shot Chris Kaba, the shadow home secretary has said.

Chris Philp told a policing conference in Westminster that if the Government does not bring in legal changes to give officers better protection he will bring proposals to Parliament himself.

Jurors in the trial of a police marksman accused of the murder of Chris Kaba have retired to consider their verdicts.

Metropolitan Police firearms officer Martyn Blake, 40, fatally shot the 24-year-old through the windscreen of an Audi Q8 in Streatham, south London, on September 5 2022.

Hemmed in by marked and unmarked police cars, Mr Kaba drove the Audi backwards and forwards in an attempt to escape, the Old Bailey has heard.

Campaigners and police representatives have called for change following the acquittal of a Metropolitan Police firearms officer accused of the murder of Chris Kaba.

Martyn Blake was cleared of the murder of Mr Kaba, who died after being shot in the head by the police marksman in south London in September 2022.

A jury at the Old Bailey acquitted Mr Blake after around three-and-a-half hours of deliberation on Monday.

After the verdict on Monday afternoon, Mr Kaba’s family said they were “devastated” and felt “the deep pain of injustice”.

The police marksman on trial for killing Chris Kaba was no “RoboCop” with the “nanosecond” reactions of a computer, a court has heard.

Metropolitan Police officer Martyn Blake shot 24-year-old Mr Kaba in the head through the windscreen of an Audi Q8 which had been linked to a shotgun incident the night before.

The Old Bailey has heard how unarmed Mr Kaba knew the police were following him and when surrounded by armed response vehicles had tried to smash and ram his way out.

The police officer who shot Chris Kaba dead says he understands the “distress” caused to his family but that his actions were “lawful, proportionate and necessary” as he was trying to save the lives of his colleagues, a jury has heard.

The comments by marksman Martyn Blake are in statements he made as the Metropolitan Police and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) began investigating the September 5 2022 shooting.

“Loud screeching” sounded a warning for a firearms officer who leapt away moments before the driver of a suspect car was fatally shot by a colleague, a court has heard.

Martyn Blake, 40, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of murdering 24-year-old Chris Kaba who was shot through the front windscreen of an Audi during an armed police stop.

Jurors have heard how Mr Kaba had been driving forwards and back in an attempt to ram his way out after being blocked in by armed response vehicles in Streatham, south London.

A police driver feared his colleague was going to be run over just before Chris Kaba was shot by a Metropolitan Police marksman, a court has heard.

The officer, known only by the cypher AY3, described “a very dramatic scene” unfolding as he gave evidence at the Old Bailey on Monday.

Fellow armed officer Martyn Blake, 40, is on trial for the murder of Mr Kaba in Streatham, south-east London, on September 5 2022.

A firearms officer who raised his gun in the same second a colleague shot Chris Kaba during a police vehicle stop told jurors he feared he would be run over and killed.

The Metropolitan Police officer, referred to as DS87, was standing beside Martyn Blake when he opened fire on the unarmed driver of a suspect Audi car on the evening of September 5 2022.

The blue Audi had been used as the “getaway” car after shots were fired outside a school in Brixton the night before – and neither shotgun nor suspects had been found, jurors were told.

A police marksman shot Chris Kaba dead believing “one or many” officers could be killed as the suspect attempted to escape at “any cost”, a court has heard.

Martyn Blake, 40, shot the 24-year-old in the head through the windscreen of an Audi car during a police stop in Streatham, south London, on September 5 2022.

Moments before, Mr Kaba had tried to get away by driving forward and then reversing into a police car which had blocked him in, jurors have heard.

A man has been found guilty of a fatal shooting less than a year after being cleared of another killing.

In April 2023, 22-year-old Tyrese Miller was shot in the chest at close range.

Drug dealer Denzel Kwateng has been cleared of the murder but convicted of manslaughter after the jury deliberated for more than 41 hours.

In 2022, the 22-year-old was cleared over the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Denardo Samuels-Brooks following an Old Bailey trial.