The policeman is not guilty of murder

A policeman has been cleared of murdering a man he shot in the head in south London two years ago.

Martyn Blake, 40, shot dead unarmed Chris Kaba during a police vehicle stop in Streatham in September 2022.

On Monday after the verdict was handed down at the Old Bailey, Kaba’s family said it was “painful evidence that the system does not value our lives”.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “No police officer is above the law, but we have been clear that the system for holding police to account is broken.”

Blake, who has denied intending to kill the 24-year-old, took a deep breath after the jury’s decision was read but otherwise did not react to the acquittal.

The Met said the officer, who was suspended throughout the trial, would be reinstated immediately.

Police were tracking Mr Kaba, who was about to become a father, because the car he was driving was linked to an earlier shooting in Brixton.

After being stopped by police cars, he drove back and forth trying to free himself, which Mr Blake said made him believe one of his colleagues was going to die, so he opened fire to stop the car, the jury heard.

Mr. Kaba died from a single gunshot wound to the forehead.

One of Mr Blake’s firearms officers told the court he would have fired if Mr Blake had not done so, and another said he was “splits of a second” away from doing the same.

The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police said that in the two years since the shooting, Blake had made “tremendous personal and professional sacrifices”.

Sir Mark said the officer made a “split-second decision about what he believed was necessary to protect his colleagues and London”.

He criticized the systems used to hold accountable police officers who fire fatal shots.

“I’m concerned about the lack of support officers who are trying to do the best they can, but most of all I’m concerned about the public,” he said.

“The more we destroy the spirit of good officers, the less they will be able to fight crime, which risks making London safer.”

More than 100 Met officers surrendered their permits to carry weapons in protest after Blake was charged with murder.

There was such a fear that if convicted, officers would surrender their weapons again that the army was put on alert to provide an armed response in the capital if necessary, the BBC understands.

A Home Office source told the BBC that significant emergency measures were in place to ensure public safety.

Mr Kaba’s family said they were devastated by the verdict and that Mr Blake’s acquittal “was not only a defeat for our family, but also for all those affected by police violence”.

About 150 people held a vigil outside the Old Bailey on Monday evening, some holding banners with slogans such as “this is not justice” and “the police are the perpetrators”.

Earlier, Sheeda Queen, Mr Kaba’s cousin and member of the Justice for Chris campaign group, described the “deep pain of injustice that has deepened the unbearable sadness”.

Fellow activist Kayza Rose said the result “reinforces the brutal reality that police can kill without consequences.”

She added: “No one can be safe as long as police can kill with impunity.

“This verdict is not the end. This only strengthens our determination.

“Now is the time to join and fight for a future where justice and accountability are the norm and no one is above the law.”

A third member of the campaign group, Temi Mwale, said: “The fight for accountability, justice and racial equality has been going on for decades.

“We respect everyone who contributed to this fight. Those who came before us, on whose shoulders we stand today.

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“We are reminded that there is nothing for us in this criminal legal system.

“We could not place any hope in this court because it has never, ever delivered a successful murder conviction against any on-duty police officer.

“The only thing police bring to our communities is pain.”

Ms Mwale added: “We have not opposed this before and we will continue to fight until our last breath, until our graves, and from the afterlife as ancestors we will empower the next generation to fight.

“We believe our grandchildren will have to continue to fight.

“Who wants to live in a society where police can shoot unarmed people in the forehead and face no consequences?

“Martyn Blake never spent a second in handcuffs or a second in a cell.

“Our lives will never matter to this system, but that’s okay.

“We are important to each other. We matter to each other and we will fight for our rights. No justice. No peace.”

The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), will now consider whether Blake should face a disciplinary hearing.

Frank Ferguson, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said the decision to prosecute was made “after careful consideration of all available evidence”.

He said: “We know firearms officers are under enormous pressure, but it is our duty to present cases to juries that meet our indictment test and we are confident that in this case the test is met.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Criminal prosecutions against police officers for actions taken in the course of their duties are extremely rare.

“Every day, police officers across the country work hard, bravely and honestly to keep the public safe.”

Additional reporting by Mark Easton.