Suella Braverman has called a gross misconduct hearing into a firearms officer cleared of murdering gangster Chris Kaba the ‘definition of insanity’.
The former home secretary criticised the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after the watchdog last week said Sergeant Martyn Blake would face an inquiry over the death of Kaba in September 2022.
In October an Old Bailey jury found Sgt Blake, 41, not guilty of murder after he had shot Kaba in the head as he tried to force his way out of a police vehicle stop in Streatham, south London.
The gangster’s car had been involved in a shooting the previous day and he was linked to a similar incident the week before.
The jury had not been told of Kaba’s criminality and violent past. Two of Sgt Blake’s colleagues also gave evidence saying they were just ‘milliseconds’ away from firing at Kaba, 24, when he tried to use his powerful Audi Q8 to ram through the blockade.
Dozens of Metropolitan Police marksmen downed tools in protest when Sgt Blake was charged with murder, which led to the Army being put on standby.
Ms Braverman last night said the IOPC had thrown Sgt Blake ‘under a bus’ and warned the issue is causing officers to leave ‘in droves’. Her sentiments were echoed by two former chief constables.
Ms Braverman told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The IOPC announcement is the definition of insanity and will mean fewer firearms officers on the streets. Sgt Martyn Blake has been cleared in a court of law and is effectively being tried twice.
Suella Braverman criticised the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after the watchdog last week said Sergeant Martyn Blake would face an inquiry over the death of Kaba
Chris Kaba, 24, was shot in south London on September 5, 2022, when he tried to ram his way through a police roadblock
‘We should be supporting our brave police officers, not throwing them under a bus. It’s no wonder police officers are leaving the force in droves.’
She also urged Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to ‘stop this witch hunt’.
Sir Peter Fahy, a former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, said: ‘I don’t think [the IOPC] really understands the profound degree of trauma this guy has gone through for doing his job.’
Mike Barton, the former chief constable of Durham Constabulary, added: ‘There is a real irony that the officer who is at the centre of all this had milliseconds to make a decision, but everybody else who is trying to second guess what should have been done are taking years to do this.’
Last week IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: ‘We acknowledge the significant public interest in this case.’
