Police officer cleared

I hadn't realised that his gang were involved in drugs too, though I suppose I should have known

At least it explains where the money for the Audi came from, since they were never likely to have been in legitimate, well paid employment

I have zero sympathy for him or anyone who is trying to make out that this is a race issue. He was a violent gang member who I’m glad is dead. He knew the risks of getting into a confrontation with armed officers. Similar to people that go swimming in crocodile infested waters despite all the warnings. My sympathy is wholly reserved for the police officer who’s life is currently at risk from Kaba’s associates.

Now that reporting restrictions have been lifted, it's interesting to see what sort of a person he was. I think it paints a clear picture of how much of a danger he would have posed to the police officers, and I think it's even more telling that a jury found as they did without access to this background information.
Hopefully people will stop trying to paint him as some sort of martyr now.
Utter cringe that Khan is still banging on about "the pain of the community" today. I'm sure that any decent community doesn't want to be associated with violent gansters.

If a Police office shoots you dead because they’re scared, is that okay?

If they're scared that you're going to kill them then in a word yes.

Fortunately prh has put it better on another thread.

Not once have I ever claimed he was a good man, I am just questioning the fact he was shot dead :

Loveinacandle · Today 12:11

prh47bridge · Today 12:07
"I don't see anyone defending him. I do see people questioning whether the police should have shot him dead, which is very different.
As per one of my earlier posts, since 1990 nearly 1900 people have died either in police custody or as a result of contact with the police. In that time only one police officer has been convicted of murder or manslaughter in relation to these deaths. Some of the victims have been awful people. Others, such as Jean Charles de Menezes, had not done anything wrong. If we give the police a free pass on killing people because the victim was a violent criminal, more innocent people will be killed by the police.
I am not saying the police should never kill anyone. There are circumstances where it is the right thing to do. And, when forced to make a split-second decision, armed police may kill someone when, with more time to consider, it looks like the wrong decision. In those circumstances I support the police.
It is about getting the right balance. Holding police officers to account when they overstep the mark, but accepting they have a difficult job to do and making sure we don't undermine their ability to do it."

Show quote history

Exactly this. If a Police office shoots you dead because they’re scared, is that okay? A criminal being chased by the police is hardly news but at what point does the police have the right to kill you. The verdict is unsurprising but I don’t think suggesting that he was a bad guy and therefore deserved it is the ‘gotcha’ that people seem to think it is

Thanks for the link, @HerGorgeousMajestyArabellaScott, l and yes this was the matter I was referring to

Strange, then, to see it reported that the girlfriend's so traumatised she can hardly get out of bed, but then I believe that's come from the family who've said a lot of things - not all of them necessarily true

Anyone who is at any protest before full facts are known, should have fucking hard look at themselves.
There are always more to these idiots and it always comes out.
I would be also fucking ashamed if I was his family.

Before Martyn Blake stood trial, police said they had intelligence that there was a credible threat to his life from members of 67.
An assessment sent to the court by one senior officer read: “In nearly 30 years of service I have never been more concerned about the welfare of an officer or the risk to them and their family to come to harm as I am about the officer in this case.
He went on: “There is specific intelligence which indicates the risk to the officer’s life and that members of the 67 gang actively seek or locate him as a result of the death of Mr Kaba.

I am so desperately sad for Mr Blake and his family.

Yet another life effectively ruined by Kaba and his ilk.

Just another violent man.

'in April 2022 he was served with a 28-day domestic violence protection order relating to the mother of his unborn child.
The order barred him from contacting her on social media or entering the street where she lived.'

https://archive.ph/Fvwvm#selection-3655.85-3659.96

You can't have it both ways. Either you want violent thugs ruling the streets of London or you want police to do their job.

One less disgusting gang member off our streets and away from our children.

I could not have said it better myself, thank you!

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Very well said. I see all the Kaba sympathisers on her have gone quiet now we have the true extent of his character in the public domain.

Come back now and tell us how Kaba is a decent young man, shot for no other reason than the colour of his skin. Absolute nonsense.

His parents are actually harming the cause of cases where there are genuine concerns about police brutality and institutional racism, such as the Sheku Bayoh case, where serious questions do need to be answered, by equating this thug’s misadventures with such a case.

I can only begin to imagine the unbelievable stress and mental toll it's taken on the armed officer in question as well.

"Kaba has convictions dating back to when he was aged 13 for offences including stabbing with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, a knife-enabled gang assault when the victim was stabbed and had his arm broken, and two other knife offences.
In 2015, when he was 17, Kaba was convicted of affray and possession of an offensive weapon - a belt - over an incident in which a revolver-style handgun was recovered nearby, but the weapon wasn't linked to him and he was never charged in connection with it."

Lovely.

Th recklessness of shooting someone on a dance floor too, where he could have hit any number of people who had nothing to do with his drug gang rivalry.

It's all here:

https://news.sky.com/story/chris-kaba-was-gunman-in-nightclub-shooting-days-before-he-was-killed-13234555.

It's not painting quite the same picture as the 'aspiring architect and soon-to be father' he's been described as up to now, is it?

The police get such flak for stopping and searching young black men, apparently without just cause, but they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. I know they aren't going to get it right 100% of the time and I feel for innocent black men just going about their business who are stopped and searched (as it turns out) unnecessarily. But the people I blame for that are the young black men who are involved in violent gang crime, carrying and using guns and knives on an epidemic level. Not the police, who are just trying to do an impossible and utterly thankless job in increasingly difficult circumstances.

Police officers volunteer to be trained to carry firearms. They operate in extremely stressful and volatile situations. They do not receive any extra money or benefits for this service. Who is going to want to do it in future, if this is where it gets them?

CK's family have vowed to 'fight on for justice.' Well this is justice. They've had it. Justice doesn't get much better than having your day in a British court of law with a jury, with your precious boy's violent and criminal background hidden from them. Justice doesn't guarantee you the outcome you want. Now we all know their boy was a wrong'un and a menace, you'd think they'd slink off quietly to lick their wounds in private, but oh no.

I had no idea of the stuff he'd been involved in until today. To his family I say go away and grieve quietly, stop your public wailing and hand wringing and faux indignation. We were fed the idea that this was a scared, innocent young black man, too afraid to stop his car because of police brutality and institutional racism in policing. Now we know the police were tailing him for very good reason and although he was unarmed, he carried evidence of being involved in the previous day's shooting.

Chris didn't need to end up dead but that's very much on him and his actions that day, not the fault of the officer who felt forced to pull the trigger. If Chris and people like him didn't carry and use guns then our policemen wouldn't need to either.

I truly hope not a penny more of public money is wasted on this farce, which should never have come to court.

The car has previously been involved in a firearms incident the previous day so they had good reason to believe the person had a firearm.

Also why didn't he gets out of the car and instead try to escape.

Play with fire, get burned.

Chris Kaba was hardly a model citizen and whilst it would have been better had he not been shot dead, the lifestyle he chose came
with risks attached. His parents should perhaps be looking at their parenting and the role it played in how their son turned out and accepting he was a wrong un. They can do that but still be sad he’s gone.

But..,
They didn't know who was in the car. So his history at the point that the gun was fired was not relevant.
He had put a hand up to show he wasn't armed.
I feel sorry for the police officer, I don't think a criminal conviction would have been right here even though I think on balance he made the wrong call.

I'm not a mega fan of the police but I'm glad this officer got cleared.

Chris Kaba was healthily involved in drugs has previous for guns and violence are the police meant to think he wouldn't mow them down and anyone else in the way.

What a violent nasty horrible dangerous thug Chris Kaba was, the world is a much better place without him in it.

The parents' conduct in this has genuinely appalled me. I would feel so hideously responsible if I had raised a child like Chris Kaba. I understand loving him and being broken by his death, but jeez, where was that love and determination to fight for him when he was massively going off the rails, before he started beating up pregnant women, dealing drugs, and shooting people? Don't blame other people for your shitty parenting.

Perhaps families can try to keep their family members from looking up to 'heroes' like CK otherwise they might make the same poor choices

Thankfully many do, but sadly it appears Kaba's family didn't number among them - or at least if they did it didn't work

Of course a family can do their very best and still see their child go wrong, but in such cases you have to wonder whether, instead of "not seeing who they were", the families see it perfectly well but would rather not address their own part in it

shame on his family for trying to suppress his significant history of violent gang related activity

Edited to add it's actually even worse than that, @Restlessinthenorth
I can quite see why they'd want this kept confidential during the trial, but reportedly they wanted to same restrictions to be maintained even afterwards, which brings me straight back to my point above