The armed police officer who shot and killed a gangster in south London is set to face a gross misconduct hearing, the police watchdog said.
Met police officer Sgt Martyn Blake, 40, shot dead Chris Kaba in Streatham in September 2022 after the 24-year-old tried to escape a police roadblock by driving at officers.
He fired a single shot through the car’s windscreen, hitting Mr Kaba in the head and killing him. Sgt Blake was charged with murder and went on trial in October last year but was acquitted.
The jury accepted Sgt Blake’s defence that he had followed his training and had used lethal force because he believed his colleagues’ lives were in danger.
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he feared charges like those brought against Sgt Blake was “crushing the spirit of good officers” and was making London unsafe after he was cleared of murder.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) spokesperson said: “ The IOPC has concluded – after a thorough review of all the evidence – that the case continues to meet the threshold which requires Sergeant Martyn Blake to attend a misconduct hearing.
“At the end of our investigation into the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba, we determined there was sufficient evidence to indicate he may have breached the police professional standards regarding his use of force and therefore had a case to answer for gross misconduct.”
IOPC director Amanda Rowe added: “We understand the impact this decision will have on Chris Kaba’s family and Sergeant 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.
On the night Mr Kaba died, police began following the Audi Q8 that he was driving because it had been used as a getaway car in a shooting in Brixton, south London, the night before.
They did not know who was driving the car at the time, although it later emerged Mr 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 week before he died.
Dozens of Metropolitan Police armed officers downed tools in outrage when Mr Blake was charged with murder and the army was put on stand-by to plug the gap.
