Kaba

Agree

Agree totally with the OP

Now we've seen the footage of the incident it was obviously a very fast-moving and frightening time; Kaba had allegedly shot someone in a nightclub the month before. The car he was driving had been linked to another firearms incident the day before. He could well have been armed on the day he was shot.

The prosecution should not have been brought, the judge directed the jury and the right verdict was reached.

The Judge who conducted the trial has ordered all the information pertaining Chris Kaba's background and criminal activities, as a notorious gangster.
His family attempted to retain reporting restrictions in perpetuity.
Yet another attack on the integrity of the Police Force.

Completely agree with OP

Yes, the right verdict was reached. These officers have to make split second decisions. Armchair critics, afterwards, don’t really help matters.

Another really interesting article;

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-institutional-cowardice-of-the-chris-kaba-case/

From your link:

The prosecution:

"Tom Little KC, for the Crown, did his best with a threadbare brief, trying rather feebly to suggest that officers had not identified themselves appropriately, even though the footage shows that they did, in case Kaba hadn’t noticed the blue flashing lights and the large car in front of him with the word POLICE written on it."

Totally agree with the OP. The officer should never have been prosecuted, and now there's apparently a £10,000 bounty on his head from the gangster world.

eazybee

The Judge who conducted the trial has ordered all the information pertaining Chris Kaba's background and criminal activities, as a notorious gangster.
His family attempted to retain reporting restrictions in perpetuity.
Yet another attack on the integrity of the Police Force.

Totally agree!
Details about his criminal,past are truly shocking.
He was a bad ‘un for sure.

From today’s Telegraph:

“The man shot dead by police in south London two years ago was a violent, armed gangster who gunned down a rival in a packed nightclub just days before he was killed, it can now be disclosed.

Despite his family claiming that convicted criminal Chris Kaba was trying to turn his life around, the 24-year-old remained a “core member” of one of London’s most feared and dangerous gangs.

In the early hours of Aug 30 2022 – just six days before he died – Kaba and three of his gang associates smuggled a handgun into a Notting Hill Carnival afterparty in the Oval Space nightclub in Cambridge Heath, Hackney.

After spotting a rival on the packed dance floor, Kaba coolly raised the gun and fired”

“But just over a year later on, Sept 23 2023, came the news that following an IOPC investigation and lengthy consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service , the decision had been made to charge NX121 with murder.

The officer appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and then the Old Bailey while tearful members of Kaba’s family packed into the public gallery.

It was only the second time in the last 30 years that a firearms officer in the UK had been charged with murder over a shooting carried out in the line of duty.“

** Why do the CPS seem to get so much wrong?

In this particular case could it be damned if they do and damned if they don't FGTomatoes? At least this way the family can't claim that this was anything to do with race. The police officer has been rightly cleared and had this not gone to trial, there would have been claims of a cover up due to racism.

Smileless2012

In this particular case could it be damned if they do and damned if they don't FGTomatoes? At least this way the family can't claim that this was anything to do with race. The police officer has been rightly cleared and had this not gone to trial, there would have been claims of a cover up due to racism.

The comment about a racism cover up is probably right but going ahead with an unwarranted prosecution put the firearms officer and his family through serious distress for two years and resulted in some firearms officers declining to continue because of the risk of prosecution. No. 10 say the CPS decision to prosecute must be respected: in my opinion they don't want to examine it for political reasons.

Kaba was a criminal. Nevertheless it's very important that public trust in the integrity of policemen is maintained.

Why didn’t they shoot the tyres out, the car wouldn’t move then The man may be a terrible criminal but he wasn’t armed on this occasion and was shot point blank in the head !!!We don’t even have the death penalty in this country so just shoot dreadful criminals instead

I could have understood if he had been armed they knew he wasn’t and you could see his arms and hands were free of any weapons

Bluebelle he was on CCTV a few days before shooting an opposing gang member on a crowded dance floor.

His car was boxed in by police cars (marked and unmarked) after a chase, yet he continued to ram them. This is not the action of a rational citizen.

The police officer had no idea if he was armed or not. The officer had a split second to decide, well done that officer.

I will not waste any emotions on a known criminal with a record as long as my arm.

It required a split-second decision. Using the car as a weapon to ram his way out put officers at risk. Shooting the tyres out would have taken longer and cars can be driven on flat tyres. The officer could not have known Kaba was not in possession of a firearm (say, on the seat beside him) and officers were aware the car had been previously used in a shooting incident. Armchair criticism is often short of facts and expertise.

Completely agree with OP.

Absolutely OP, How on earth the CPS decided to prosecute when they must have had all the facts is beyond me. Seeing the family and others protesting the verdict was sickening, I suspect their next move will be trying to get compo.

You're quite right about the domino effect of other officers handing in their arms Grantanow and I agree about the stress and anxiety the police officer and his family were put through. I just can't see the CPS had any other option.

Imagine how much worse the family's reaction would have been if the officer in question hadn't be tried in a court of law and acquitted Saxon.

Despite the facts presented to the court and this acquittal, the family are still insisting they haven't had justice, even though his criminal past has only just been made known to ensure there could be no prejudice on the part of the jury. This alone clearly shows justice has been served.

This Guardian article details the crucial 13 seconds before the shooting

and it also provides some insight into why it has dragged on so very long, as it involved Braverman and Rowley in debates about there being a case at all

- the delays have made it worse for everyone imo not least the policeman involved.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/oct/21/what-we-now-know-about-the-13-seconds-before-chris-kaba-was-shot

SaxonGrace

Absolutely OP, How on earth the CPS decided to prosecute when they must have had all the facts is beyond me. Seeing the family and others protesting the verdict was sickening, I suspect their next move will be trying to get compo.

What do you expect. Always someone else fault, never theirs.. They can never,it seems, admit their son was a violent criminal.

I also think smileless the CPS had no choice "Imagine how much worse the family's reaction would have been if the officer in question hadn't be tried in a court of law and acquitted Saxon"

- and the public generally as well as the family. The ending of the case also allowed the police to release details of Kaba's former convictions.