Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley has made his feelings clear after a firearms officer cleared of murdering Chris Kaba was hit with a fresh probe.
Sgt Martin Blake, 41, an officer in the specialist firearms unit MO19, shot Kaba in the head after he tried to ram his way out of a police vehicle area in Streatham on 5 September 2022.
His murder trial heard that police officers were aware the vehicle had been used as a getaway car in another shooting in south London the day before.
It later emerged 24-year-old Kaba was a core member of one of London’s most dangerous street gangs and was accused of being involved in two shootings in the days leading up to his death.
Former Metropolitan Police detective Peter Bleksley hit out at the decision to launch misconduct proceedings against the officer who shot Kaba
GB NEWS / PA
Speaking on GB News, Bleksley said the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have cowered to the “mob”.
“The IOPC is a largely discredited organisation which isn’t independent. It has bowed to a baying mob and acted vindictively and perniciously”, he said.
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“This gross misconduct hearing is utterly appalling.”
GB News’s Nana Akua said the officer being cleared should have drawn a line under the case and also questioned why the judge named him in court proceedings.
“NX121’s actions that night when he pulled the trigger and fired that shot and everything leading up to that has been examined by a jury in the minutest of detail”, he said.
“The IOPC and CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) in their desperation to try and nail a firearms officer for a crime they hadn’t committed was shown to be abysmal.
Chris Kaba's family delivered a hand-written note to Keir Starmer in 2024 reminding the prime minister of 'everybody's right to life'
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“The jury, not only did they deliver their verdicts swiftly and conclusively, they wrote a letter to the judge. In that letter, the jury lambasted the CPS and IOPC for ever putting this officer on trial.
“And now he, his family and everyone who loves him will have to go through the ordeal of a gross misconduct hearing.
“This is not process. This is abuse.”
Bleksley’s fury was matched by dozens of Metropolitan Police armed officers who downed tools in protest in response to Sgt Blake being charged.
Peter Bleksley said the IOPC are a 'discredited' organisation
GB NEWS
During the trial, one of his fellow officers said he would have taken a shot had Blake not.
Another told the Old Bailey he was “fractions of a second” away from doing the same.
IOPC director Amanda Rowe said in a statement: "We understand the impact this decision will have on Chris Kaba's family and Sgt Blake and acknowledge the significant public interest in this case, particularly among our black communities, firearms officers and the wider policing community.
"This is a decision we have taken based on examining all the evidence, views of all parties and by applying the thresholds set out in legislation and guidance which govern our work.
"The legal test for deciding whether there is a case to answer is low – is there sufficient evidence upon which, on the balance of probabilities, a disciplinary panel could make a finding of misconduct?
"This has been met and therefore we need to follow the legal process."
Chris Kaba’s family said they welcomed the hearing and they hoped it would lead to Sgt Blake’s removal from the Met.
"We are still so devastated to have lost Chris - this should never have happened," the family said.
