The police marksman who fatally shot 24-year-old Chris Kaba will no longer face misconduct proceedings, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced, following a change in the legal thresholds for officers' use of force. Sergeant Martyn Blake shot Mr. Kaba in the head in September 2022 in Streatham, south London, after Mr. Kaba drove his vehicle towards a police roadblock in an apparent attempt to break through it. Sergeant Blake was previously acquitted of murder by a jury at the Old Bailey.
The IOPC had paused its misconduct proceedings while awaiting the publication of government regulatory changes. According to Andrew Johnson, IOPC director of strategy and policy, the decision to drop the proceedings was based on a careful consideration of the law change and its intent to address perceived unfairness in the civil law test. "We believe this position provides consistency across impacted cases and is fair to officers who are facing potential dismissal for misconduct, which if it occurred now, would not amount to misconduct under the new law," Johnson stated. The IOPC expects the number of other cases affected by this law change to be relatively small.
Following Sergeant Blake's acquittal on murder charges, then-home secretary Yvette Cooper had stated her intention to align the legal test for charging police officers regarding the use of force with the standard applied to the public. The IOPC also indicated that its threshold for misconduct proceedings would be raised to match the criminal law standard.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes commented that the criminal trial's acquittal should have provided a definitive conclusion to the case. He acknowledged the impact on Sergeant Blake, his family, and the wider firearms community, as well as the family of Chris Kaba. "We have consistently said since the criminal trial that there is no basis for further action against this officer and that remains our position," Jukes said. He added that the change will provide reassurance to firearms officers who need confidence that decisions made in good faith during dangerous situations will be judged fairly.
Jukes also highlighted that the case exposed the slowness of the existing system, noting that a split-second decision made under threat had resulted in years of investigations and legal proceedings. He welcomed the recent legal changes, which include a presumption of anonymity for firearms officers during court proceedings until conviction and the restoration of the criminal test for the use of force in misconduct cases. The Metropolitan Police stated their belief that the current system needs to be swifter while maintaining public confidence and accountability.
Chris Kaba, 24, was pursued and stopped by police who had linked his vehicle to three firearms incidents in the five months prior. At the time of the incident, officers were unaware of his identity. He was reportedly a member of a violent street gang and had been accused of involvement in shootings in the days leading up to his death. Mr. Kaba's family had previously expressed devastation at the decision to pause proceedings, stating that Sergeant Blake had fatally shot an unarmed Mr. Kaba without knowing who he was.