Police officer cleared

[Toomanywars]

Martin Blake police officer today cleared by a jury of unlawful killing of Chris Kaba

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

I'm wondering who actually owned the vehicle. Just as an aside. I mean I don't know anyone who could buy an Audi Q8. I don't have rich friends. And I wonder where it will end up.

I've never understood how the 'defund the police' narrative got attached to the left in the UK . The only people who have defunded the police have been the Tories. How have they successfully managed to tar the left with this?

Which sounds reasonable, until you think it through and realise that if a suspect was armed , then shooting the tyres out would put police and civilians in immediate danger.

I was listening to a firearms officer on the radio the other day. He said that most armed police officers never have to use their weapons, I think he said there had been four police shootings in the last ten years in the met although armed officers had been called to thousands of incidents. I think that shows a remarkable level of training and restraint. But having said that, people, ie criminals, need to realise that if officers do use their weapons they are not just going to be shooting to wound or disable, they are shooting to stop, and that means fatalities are a possible, and likely, outcome.

The information that has come out about Kaba in the last couple of days show that he:had no issues with shooting without regard to public safety ie in a crowded nightclub, or in the street . I imagine that had he had a weapon that night there is a distinct possibility that he would have used it. The car had been flagged as involved in a shooting, it would be a reasonable assumption that the person driving it could have been armed. He wasn’t armed on that occasion, but given the situation and the information, who would want to call the odds on that?

I don’t know who owned it, but I know who paid for it, all those kids buying their £10.00 wraps from Kaba and his drug running gang. Takes a lot of £10.00 wraps to pay for a car worth over £70,000.

I notice that all of the protestors outside the court (which didn’t include the family, they were photographed separately) waving Socialist Worker "BLM" placards were white. Just the usual bunch of trustafarians.

Am totally stunned now we have heard a lot more about him why his family were given air time outside the Old Bailey to play the sympathy oh it is a shame blah, blah, blah...why was this allowed??

They knew his background it is quite unbelievable we gave them air time to stir up what could have been a lot of trouble...it is shocking!! They purposely tried to hide the reality about him and wanted it all kept quiet...shameful and beggars belief....

Again, black on black crime does not exist so your point is irrelevant. It’s standard crime and should be viewed as much.

I think the reason people talk so much about black on black crime is because listening to the people who like to remind us that 'black lives matter' you could be forgiven for thinking that white people (or the police) are the biggest threat to the safety of black people in this country. But that's simply not true, is it?

Those people making a fuss about the George Floyds and Chris Kabas and Mark Duggans of this world only ever seem to notice or care when the perpetrators are white and/or the police. It's as if all the violence against black people perpetrated by other black people (which is to say the vast majority of it) is simply ignored when 'Black Lives Matter.'

You think that shooting someone's tyres out is a guarantee of stopping them? Are you going to run around to get all four of them? I've seen footage where stingers have been deployed and the driver has carried on driving with the burst tyres flying off, leaving just the wheel rims in contact with the road.

Interesting that the only person having to go before a Court and risk a life sentence is the person putting their life on the line to protect the community from violence and criminality. Not the family that raised a violent gang member who used violence to resolve disputes, or the judiciary who impose sentences that neither detered reoffending or keeps offenders off the streets, or all those early intevention setvices we pay for, or the probation service after previous crimes, or government Ministers who's policy enable offenders to be released early or not imprisoned in the first place, or NGOs who make every excuse possible to ensure their existence and victim mentality in communities or the community who big up criminality and violence and then blame others for violence and criminality in their communities.
Serious, who would want to put their lives on the line for this as a police officer.

Well said, @ClareBlue

I'm often critical of the Met, especially when it comes to their treatment of women, but goodness, in this case it seems astonishing that they are the bad guys.

The Tories constantly talk tough on crime but have, time and again, proved they are not willing to fund that fight.

However, the defund the police narrative has not attached itself to the left, it's the left who have adopted and promoted it. It comes from a long-established tenet of Marxism whereby regular criminals are seen as products and victims of class oppression whereas political criminals are the true enemy who deserve no mercy.

I sit somewhere in the middle. I believe that criminals are not born but made and we should do all we can to prevent people entering a life of crime but that once someone has reached a certain level of criminality it is extremely difficult to rehabilitate them and the damage they can do to others while attempting to change them is not worth the cost to society. Criminals can commit hundreds of crimes and cause misery to entire communities before they even get a brief whiff of punishment. Chris Kaba had obviously been indulged by his family and the system to the point where he felt invincible enough to get away with murder.

And next up:
Claire Holland, Leader of Lambeth Council- undermining the police, showing zero respect for the jury based justice system on which our democracy depends, and betraying a great many of her Lambeth residents:

Councillor Claire Holland, the Leader of Lambeth Council, said:
“We have witnessed the pain and trauma in our communities caused by the tragic fatal shooting of Chris Kaba in our borough. Since his killing in September 2022 we have worked to support both his family and local people in coming to terms with this loss.
“The sense of shock and grief felt at the loss of Chris was felt deeply by his family, friends and the community. We have joined them in mourning his loss, and calling for answers.
“We welcomed the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s decision to investigate and ultimately refer this case to trial. The Central Criminal Court murder trial of the Metropolitan police firearms officer who fired the fatal shot has now concluded and we note the Not Guilty verdict.
“While this closes the criminal investigation into Chris’ killing, the trauma in our communities remains and we are committed to working with local people to find a way for us all to address the pain being felt.
“We will be speaking with Chris’s family and local community leaders about how we can best deal with our collective grief and ongoing community concerns.
“We will also be speaking to the Met and the government to continue the push for change that we need to see in both Lambeth and London to ensure that we have the fair and accountable policing our communities both need and deserve.
“Most importantly, we must see real action to address the failings highlighted by Baroness Casey’s devastating report into the Met and that have most impacted on black Londoners, women and our LGBTQ+ communities.
“This is a really difficult moment for our borough. The loss of a young person at the start of their adult life, with so much ahead of them, is such a tragedy. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, particularly at this moment, and we remain committed to supporting them.”

I guess this ludicrous statement is designed to mollify the people she presumes will riot or cause civil unrest.

1. Way to patronise and stereotype your residents, Claire
2. Show how liberal and on the right side of history she is
3. Show how anti-racist she is
4. Way to patronise and stereotype your residents Claire

Ignore the community whose lives are ruined by these gangs (that is not hyperbole- I referred to some actual cases that I know of in an earlier post), ignore the black community whose lives are blighted and ruined by these gangs -and make the police's jobs even harder as you do it.

It was registered to Pottinger, one of the co-conspirators in the nightclub shooting. But Kaba seemed to drive it regularly - he drove it to the night club shooting - but left in...guess what...a Range Rover

I am getting too deeply invested in this case.

One last input. A poster called Ike Ijeh (a black male) on X:

"This incessant pandering to "black communities" is toxic, divisive and insulting. My race lends me no more cultural kinship with Chris Kaba than Rowley's does with Fred West. There are only two communities the police should be interested in, those who commit crimes and those who don't."

Take note Sadiq Khan , Claire Holland and nitwit BBC reporters at large in Croydon.

This

So good people who were thinking of joining the police today to protect their communities are thinking what? No way.
So police recruitment ends up with power crazy, women hating racists, because they are the diminishing pool prepared to join up.
And you end up with having to create a poorly trained parimilitary police force that has no connection with communities and is on edge as gun violence becomes the norm. And police shootings become the norm in response. Exactly what is happening in USA.

This is so very true.

Love this.

Hear Hear.

I've just seen an update on my news feed that police officers who shoot suspects are to be granted anonymity while any investigation or court case is in process. I think that's a very welcome move and I am only sad that it cannot apply to this particular police officer.

100% and … does Khan get police protection? … only black officers? He is shameless

He’s my sympathy to his family & community …. I’m so sorry you raised a murderous, criminal thug and it was only a matter of time before he ended up dead as retribution for his violence & aggression towards other young black men. And for his negative impact on “our” community, his selling drugs to our children, extortion and being an all around threatening person. So sorry for your utter failure to raise a productive law abiding son.

Well said!

Not only is this behaviour toxic, divisive, and insulting, but it is also exactly what the gangs want! Channel the discourse and people's energy away from the terror and the misery they cause

This x 20000000

I couldn’t agree with you more. How is this slimeball still mayor of London?!