So, Chris Kaba wasn’t the kind, decent, defenceless bloke his family said he was and who was shot dead with “no justification” by nasty, criminal, racist police.
Turns out Kaba was a core member of one of London’s most notorious North London criminal gangs and was alleged to have been directly linked to TWO shootings in the six days before he was shot dead by police. He also had previous convictions for possession of weapons and the Audi he was driving was linked to THREE previous firearms incidents in FIVE months.
But we might not have known any of this had Kaba’s mother been successful in trying to ban details of her son’s criminal history being made public presumably so the family could continue peddling the story that he was an innocent shot down by racist cops.
And yes, I get that they were grieving at the death of their son but why did they peddle that he was an innocent in all of this.
No, police didn’t know it was Kaba behind the wheel of the two tonne Audi Q8 that fateful night but they knew it had been used as a getaway car in a shooting in Brixton the night before and it was also linked to a shooting in a Hackney nightclub.
And THAT’S why it was being followed by armed police. THAT’S why those coppers were wary of what the driver of the car might do. And when Kaba refused to vacate the car when told to he then reversed with spinning wheels and tried to ram his way out of the police roadblock as officers on foot were making their way towards him.
THAT’S why Sgt Martyn Blake fired a single shot – because he believed his colleagues to be in mortal danger.
Presumably the CPS knew all this – so why they Hell did they charge Sgt Blake with murder? Where was the actual evidence that what he did was murder? Where on the video evidence that we’ve all seen did it show he was doing anything other than his job and his duty?
The CPS didn’t have a shred of credible evidence against this officer yet it slapped a murder charge on him anyway because the mobs in the streets were calling for it.
This was without doubt this was a politically motivated prosecution. The people who took to the streets to protest against Kaba’s killing had written their own narrative – that he was a happy, innocent, unarmed black boy who had done nothing wrong and was the unwitting victim of police savagery and racism.
And the CPS should have damn well known better than to swallow that narrative without hard evidence. Instead they chose to destroy a good man’s life and career.
What’s happened to Martin Blake is a national bloody disgrace and it will have deterred any decent officer wanting to join any firearms unit anywhere. And when there’s no-one left who wants to do this hellish, thankless job what happens to the rest of us then? If those officers who keep us safe from the kind of vile, lawless gangs that Chris Kaba belonged to aren’t there to protect us – who will?
Yes, it’s tragic that Kaba died but he wasn’t one of the good guys. He shot people. Had he lived he’d have been prosecuted for the attempted murder of the man he shot in a nightclub. He was also linked to a previous shooting and had convictions for possession of weapons. And there was the domestic violence order against him related to the Mother of his unborn child. So not the “ kind, happy, fun loving bloke “ his family and friends told us he was.
And Kaba must surely have known when guns and knives and gangs are your life – then it’s a life story that isn’t likely to end well.
But the only real point here is that Martyn Blake never meant to kill Chris Kaba – he shot at him to stop him potentially killing his colleagues and armed police officers must be free to do that and to protect themselves without being automatically labelled murderers.
The very nature of their jobs mean that one day they might have to kill someone to protect others. But in recent years when they’ve done that – there’s always a clamour for their heads on a platter – like they purposely set out to kill people.
They don’t ! It’s a credit to how good they are that most operations end without a single shot being fired. But I sometimes they have no choice – and sadly, Chris Kaba became one of those choices. Had he got out of that car as instructed by officers – he’d be alive today.
What’s happened to Martyn Blake has to be a line in the sand. This demonisation of our armed police HAS to stop. No-one is above the law but these men aren’t Gung Ho idiots looking to waste people. They’re mostly unsung heroes doing a job the rest of us don’t have the stomach for.
As an armed officer Martyn Blake had every right to expect that the justice system would be on his side. But it wasn’t. It was dead set against him from the start and because of that he and his family have been through TWO years of absolute hell. On top of that his career is in ruins because even though he’s now been reinstated why the hell would he ever want to set foot back onto our lawless streets when he’s seen the thanks he gets for trying to take care of us.
Sgt Blake has been comprehensively betrayed by our joke of a justice system and questions now have to be asked why.
Why was he charged with murder?
Why did it take two years for his case to come to court?
Why did Judge Mark Lucraft decide to lift Blake’s anonymity potentially putting him and his family in danger?
Martyn Blake might have been cleared of murder but this story has no happy ending for him .
And we should all be scared – very scared – because every armed officer in this country will be looking at the shabby, treacherous way Sgt Blake’s been treated and thinking: “ Why the hell should I keep doing this?”
I don’t have an answer for them. Do you?