The acquittal this week of Metropolitan Police officer Martyn Blake for the murder of Chris Kaba in 2022 is being used to push for police to be given what amounts to a license to kill.

Kaba, 24, was shot to death with a single bullet to the forehead by Blake following a police pursuit in the Streatham Hill area of ​​London on September 5, 2022.

Kaba’s killing sparked protests against the police in London and other cities including Manchester, Cardiff, Brighton and Southampton.

In the hours after the verdict – after the judge in the case allowed the media to publish details about Kaba’s past – TV and the media went into overdrive with a crafted message that Kaba was a criminal who got what he got. he.

All of Blake’s claims and defense that he had to shoot Kaba because of the danger to the lives of his Met colleagues, who were in danger of being crushed or dragged under the wheels of the car in which Kaba was driving, were repeated ad nauseam. .

However, all of these allegations were denied by the prosecutor’s office in court.

• After the chase, police vehicles moved towards the completely closed Audi A8 Kaba on a narrow road. Kaba was shot and killed just 13 seconds after entering the box.
• After getting out of his own marked police car to confront Kaba, Blake saw Kaba’s futile attempts to crash into cars trying to escape. In the video footage, Blake can be seen running away from Kaba’s car towards the back of a parked minibus and running towards the back of his own car. The Blake cop pulled up next to the BMW and pointed his rifle at Kaba’s car.

• Blake claimed in court that although he could not see the scenes in front of him due to his hidden position, he could hear the engine of Kaba’s car revving, tires squealing and the Audi moving at “amazing” speed.
• But no matter what Kaba did to escape by crashing into several police cars, no one was in danger because it was proven in court that the car was traveling no faster than 12 miles per hour.
• When asked by the prosecution, Blake was unable to identify which officers in the extensive video footage of the incident feared for their lives.

Therefore, the focus is now on Kaba’s criminal history to justify the police execution.

But Blake didn’t even know that Kaba was the one driving. The Audi he was driving was stopped because it was believed to be linked to a shooting incident the previous day and an automatic license plate recognition (ANPR) sign had been placed on it. Naturally, Kaba was not mentioned in the September 5 briefing given to officers before their shift about the Audi potentially being involved in a firearms incident.