source: INQUEST

published: 21 October 2024

Image Credit: Image Credit Deborah Coles at INQUEST www.inquest.org.uk

A Metropolitan Police firearms officer has today been found not guilty of the murder of Chris Kaba. Chris, a 24 year old Black man, was fatally shot by Martyn Blake, a firearms officer from the Metropolitan Police on 5 September 2022 in Streatham, London. He was unarmed.

On 5 September 2022, Metropolitan police forced the car Chris was driving to stop believing it was linked to a firearms incident the previous night in nearby Brixton. The car was not registered to Chris and was not stolen. 

The officers did not know who was driving the car. Chris was unarmed and had his hands clearly visible on the steering wheel. Blake rushed out of his car and within a few seconds shot Chris in the head.

During the trial, Martyn Blake described having seen Chris as a “Black male who looked comparatively young and athletic”. The prosecution argued that the trained firearms officer decided to shoot “precipitously” whilst the car was stationary and hemmed in at the back with no risk to anyone as the other officers were not nearby.

They also argued that Martyn Blake deliberately made false and exaggerated statements to create an element of danger that did not exist when he decided to shoot Chris.

Martyn Blake was charged with Chris’ murder by the Crown Prosecution Service on 20 September 2023. At no point did the defence put in an application that he had no case to answer for.

Today, the jury at The Old Bailey has found him not guilty.

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