Police officer cleared

The car was stationary when he was shot. The officer who killed him stood in front of the car. He tried to get away and hit a couple of cars, he was driving very very slowly. There were no weapons in his car and both hands were on the steering wheel.

He was a member of a thuggish violent gang of scumbags who had been involved in shootings before and was trying to ram police officers with a car. There was only one correct outcome at trial.

No, the police are supposed to protect the wider community and prevent injury or death.

Making threats with a deadly weapon (in this case a car) can result in police doing whatever is necessary to stop them. That's why some of our police officers have to be armed.

Wasn’t armed? He was using his car as a weapon

He wasn't armed He was using his car as a weapon. And perhaps if he’d stopped his car when he was asked to, he’d have had the opportunity to show he wasn’t armed.

from the footage no one was in imminent danger Several police officers and a jury would disagree with you.

The officer who shot him stood in front of the car and shot him in the head Pretty sure that’s not accurate. And if it were, so what?

I thought the police were meant to disarm people, not kill them Give over. What were they supposed to do? Tap on the window and ask him to roll it down so they could spray him? If they’d shot him non lethally, and he’d had a gun, he could have killed anyone. If you’re going to be put in a position where you have to make the choice of whether or not to use lethal force, you have a responsibility to protect your colleagues and the general public over someone who had already demonstrated that he didn’t care who he hurt in his attempts to escape.

I wouldn't blame every armed police officer in the country giving up their weapons. Then let's see how happy all these people who want to criticise the police at every turn are when and if there is an incident where the lives of their loved ones are at stake.

The mayor of Londons statement on this is a disgrace. Why does he need to send his condolences to Kabas friends and family? Where are the condolences for the officer and his family who have no doubt gone to hell and back in the run up to this trial?

I agree with @JaniceBattersby that police officers must be named in the same way as anyone else. The same standards must apply.

The CPS put this forward for trial and a jury has looked at the evidence from the body-worn cameras, and drawn the correct conclusion that the officer fired when he reasonably judged the lives of his colleagues to be at risk from the fast revving car. Justice has been seen to be done.

I feel desperately sorry for the family, no-one should experience the loss of a son but that doesn't make the officer's actions wrong. He made a split second decision to prevent the car from travelling forward at speed. Mr Kaba could have, should have, got out of the car but he chose to threaten the officers with his vehicle instead. A tragic waste of a life.

Correct decision.

He is still going to be assessed by the independent office for police conduct, but suspect that will feel substantially less daunting after having been through a murder trial!

I wonder if he will want to continue policing after this.

Side question- Do you get any monetary compensation for being held on remand and wasting 2 years of your life waiting to be found not guilty of murder?

Unfortunately we need armed police officers, but who would want to be one after this?

Can you imagine if police didn't stop him and he drove off at speed and killed a member of the public. They'd be uproar blaming the police for not stopping him. Dammed if they do dammed if they don't.

Very pleased with this decision. Feel very sorry for what this police officer has gone through.

Great news. How that came to trial I’ll never know

Correct decision and imo, no defendants should have their name released for any crime before they are found guilty - least of all police officers or soldiers who are doing their job.

What planet do you live on? He tried to ram his way out of the situation with a large, dangerous weapon (his vehicle) not giving a shit who was in his way. Had the officer he nearly dragged between two cars been fatally injured, people would be calling for harsher action to have been taken.

All this “accountability” (I say loosely) is not putting police officers in their place, it’s empowering criminals.

Agreed the correct decision.

I live in the area.

It is hugely unfortunate, tragic, that he was shot dead given that he was found to be unarmed. However understandable or mistaken in the circs.

It is exasperating that Chris Kaba will now be a hero in gang culture.

He was the alleged gunman in a shooting earlier https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/dancefloor-shooting-hackney-east-london-b1152735.html and the car he was driving had been involved in a firearms incident in Brixton the night before. Young people my Ds and his friends knew had their lives ruined or seriously impacted by the local gang activities of Kaba and co. They make life dangerous for young people: postcode wars, gang violence, co-ercing them into dealing etc. When the seige happened and his name was released all the young men in my (successful, law abiding, peaceful) son’s networks knew who he was, what he did and what he was involved in.

We have to have accountability, we cannot have police or anyone else shooting unlawfully. I wasn’t in court and didn’t see the close up videos or hear the full evidence, but trust the jury made the right decision.

But had the officer been found guilty or not guilty, either way Kaba will be held up as a martyr / hero by many people, and this is not good. Whatever happened, I wish the seige could have been ended without his death - to avoid another senseless death and to avoid the fact that this could make it even harder for the police to do their job.

Basically there were riots and protests after a man Chris Kabawas shot by an armed police officer.

There were protests, no riots. Basically.

He wasn't armed and from the footage no one was in imminent danger. The officer who shot him stood in front of the car and shot him in the head. I thought the police were meant to disarm people, not kill them.

Should police officers get more support. Perhaps not release name until after trial or inquiry.

No, I don't believe any adult defendants should be treated differently to others in this way.

Justice was done. Should never have gone to court.

I'd really recommend a podcast called The Trial - Officer Blake. It has summaries from each couple of days from the trial. Very balanced reporting.

The car Chris K was driving was suspected of being involved in a shooting the night before. Car was stopped abd surrounded but CK was revving engine in a way it appeared he was about to push through the block which would have put lives of other officers at risk.

It took 17 seconds from start to finish.

*no suggestion CK was guilty of the shooting the previous night (from me).