Image showing a gavel (for representation).
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A British police officer was acquitted on Monday of the murder of a Black man he shot dead in London two years ago, an incident that led to large protests and anger among the capital's Black community.
Martyn Blake, 40, had pleaded "not guilty" to the murder of Chris Kaba, who was unarmed and died from a single gunshot to the head in the Streatham area of south London on September 5, 2022. He was acquitted by a jury after a three-week trial at London's Old Bailey court. Kaba was shot dead after his car, which had been linked to a reported shooting the previous evening, was stopped by armed police. He had tried to drive away while boxed in by police vehicles when Metropolitan Police firearms officer Blake shot him through the car windscreen.
Prosecutor Tom Little told jurors at the start of the trial this month that Blake's decision to shoot Kaba "was not reasonably justified or justifiable". Blake, however, said he had thought there was an "imminent threat" to his colleagues if he had not shot Kaba. He gave evidence that he intended to incapacitate Kaba but not kill him.
"My whole intention was to stop that vehicle, which I thought was about to run my colleagues over," Blake said.
Kaba's death had prompted protests and anger from the capital's Black community, which has long complained of unfair and racist treatment by the Met Police.
An independent 2023 review into the Met found it was institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic and unable to police itself. The decision to charge Blake was unusual: the Independent Office of Police Conduct said it or its predecessor had undertaken 26 investigations into 28 people who died in police shootings since 2013, referring only Blake and one other officer – who was not charged – to prosecutors.
On hearing the verdict, Blake puffed out his cheeks and hugged and shook hands with his close protection officers inside the court after leaving the dock. Kaba's family quickly left the court. Jurors, who deliberated for just over three hours, had unusually asked to say something in addition to pronouncing their verdict, but Judge James Goss told them: "The circumstances do not permit anything other than a delivery, a simple delivery, of your verdict."
IOPC director Amanda Rowe said in a statement after the verdict that the trial "will have been of significant public interest, and particularly so within our Black communities".
She also said: "Armed policing plays a crucial part in protecting our communities and keeping the public safe from danger." "It's important to recognise that fatal police shootings are rare, particularly in relation to the volume of incidents firearms officers are called to attend," Rowe added.