‘No winners’ in Chris Kaba shooting case, says firearms officer
The marksman said there was never any evidence that his colleague Martyn Blake had done anything wrong.
A police marksman who was present on the night Chris Kaba was fatally shot has said there are “no winners” in the case and that it should never have been brought to court.
The officer, a colleague of Martyn Blake, 40, who was cleared of Mr Kaba’s murder on Monday, also told the Radio 4 Today programme that officers who take fatal shots should face a court martial-style hearing rather than a jury trial.
There has been anger in police circles since the initial decision to charge Sergeant Blake with a criminal offence in September last year, and fury was reignited by his acquittal in just over three hours by a jury at the Old Bailey.
Mr Kaba’s family said they too were left devastated at the verdict, and pledged to continue fighting for justice for their son.
He said that “at no point was there any evidence that (Mr Blake) had done anything wrong”.
The marksman, who remained anonymous, added: “There’s a problem when police officers are scrutinised by people who don’t necessarily understand the pressures and the issues involved.
“I’m no legal expert but I do wonder whether there’s something maybe akin to the court martial system that we see in the military which would be a better fit for incidents like this, where we have a panel of legal experts, a panel of subject-matter experts who can call on witnesses from the incident itself, can call on further witnesses in a particular area to bring their expertise to bear and that we can seek a judicial outcome from that.”
During the trial, relatives including the 24-year-old’s parents Helen Lumuanganu and Prosper Kaba sat through more than two weeks of painstaking analysis of their son’s death, including footage from multiple different body-worn and car cameras.
Mr Kaba’s cousin told protesters who gathered outside the Old Bailey on Monday evening that his mother had held back her emotions for days on end during the trial.
She said that at the start of the case her auntie started “shaking uncontrollably” and crying when footage was shown.
“Day two onwards up until today, my auntie sat in that court, held it together,” she told the crowd.
“The only thing that was shaking was her legs. She held back every tear.”
Rank and file officers in the Met are understood to “remain astonished” that criminal charges against Mr Blake were brought, with Met boss Sir Mark Rowley declaring the system that holds police marksmen to account to be broken.
The Police Federation of England and Wales said officers were “rightly asking what protection they have when doing such a dangerous, complex and demanding job”.
But the Crown Prosecution Service and police watchdog defended the decision to bring a criminal charge, saying the case had been brought following careful analysis of the evidence and that it was right to put it before a jury.
Mr Kaba’s family said the verdict was a failure “for all those affected by police violence”, adding that “no family should endure the unimaginable grief we have faced”.
In a statement issued by charity Inquest, Mr Kaba’s family said they would “continue fighting for Chris, for justice, and for real change”.
Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who is supporting the family, said the trial showed that “nobody is above the law” and called for “urgent efforts” to rebuild trust between police and communities.
“We’ve got to respect the process and the verdict but (the family) rightfully have questions,” Ms Ribeiro-Addy, who attended the protest on Monday, told the PA news agency.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she would work with forces “to strengthen confidence for the future”, while the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners said it would “reflect on the wider implications” of the case.
The trial heard how the Audi 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, so he opened fire to stop the car.
Prosecutors argued that Mr Blake had misjudged the risk, exaggerated the threat to his colleagues in statements following the shooting, and had aimed at Mr Kaba’s head, all of which he denied.
In his defence, jurors heard a series of glowing testimonials from colleagues and senior officers.
Police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct will now consider whether Mr Blake should face a disciplinary hearing.
He will be immediately reinstated to his job in the Met but will need to undergo refresher training before being deployed operationally.
