Lead investigator speaks out after police officer is acquitted

The man who led the investigation into the police shooting of an unarmed driver Chris Kaba has spoken out on the case for the first time after a police firearms officer was acquitted of murder.

Sergeant of the Metropolitan Police Martin Blake was unanimously acquitted by a jury last month of the murder of 24-year-old Kaba after he tried to fight his way out of a police checkpoint.

The case sparked a wave of discussion responsibility of the police as police leaders lashed out over the decision to press charges against the firearms officer. The Home Secretary has since announced plans to award a police shooter anonymity in court until sentencing.

The identities of firearms officers will be kept secret if they are prosecuted unless convicted, the Home Secretary announced (PA Wire)

However, Sal Naseem, who led the investigation into the shooting for police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IIOPC), said he had a “deep-seated reaction” to viewing body-worn camera footage of the incident, which contained less than lasted twenty seconds.

“It’s a split-second decision, but for Sergeant Blake to discharge the firearm there must be a significant threat to life,” he said. BBC panorama. “When he did that, I just didn’t think there was a reason for it.”

The IOPC referred their investigation to the Crown Prosecution Service, which said the case met the test for prosecution following a detailed examination of the evidence.

Meanwhile, Mr Kaba’s family, who protested the not guilty verdict, said they were “shocked and surprised” to discover the 24-year-old was involved in a nightclub shooting just five days before the police stop.

After the trial, a judge lifted reporting restrictions, preventing the media from reporting on Mr Kaba’s previous convictions and links to a notorious south London gang called the Lambeth ’67’.

Chris Kaba was named as the shooter in a nightclub shooting days before he was killed during a police stop (CPS/PA)

CCTV footage from a separate trial showed Mr Kaba shooting a rival in the leg on a packed dance floor at the Oval Space nightclub in Hackney, east London, on August 30, 2022, before following him outside and shooting again. If he had not been killed, Mr Kaba would most likely be on trial for attempted murder over this incident.

The Audi he was driving on September 5 had also been linked to another shooting the night before, but officers had no information about who was driving when they surrounded the vehicle in Streatham, south London.

Kaba’s father Prosper told the BBC that “the role of the police is not to kill”.

Their son should instead have stood trial and, if convicted, gone to prison for the criminal activities they now know he was involved in, he added.