UK cop who fatally shot unarmed black man acquitted of murder

A UK police marksman was on Monday cleared of murdering a black man who was shot dead two years ago as officers tried to stop a car he was driving in south London.

Martyn Blake, 40, had been on trial for killing Chris Kaba, 24, in the Streatham area of the British capital in September 2022. He died of a single gunshot to the head.

A jury at the Old Bailey court in central London returned a not guilty verdict after about three hours' deliberation.

Kaba's death prompted protests from his family and friends but also saw dozens of Blake's colleagues stop work after he was charged.

Prosecutors argued that the shooting was "not reasonably justified or justifiable".

Police in England, Scotland and Wales are not routinely armed and only a small proportion are authorised to carry guns.

In the year to March 2023, official figures showed that there were 18,395 police firearms operations and police weapons were deliberately fired in 10 of these incidents, with three fatalities.

Blake, an officer with the Metropolitan Police, shot Kaba through the front windscreen of an Audi Q8 car, which had been used as a getaway vehicle in a shooting the previous evening.

It had been blocked by other police vehicles when it was identified and the court was told that Kaba tried to ram his way free.

Blake told jurors he opened fire to stop the car, as he feared one of his colleagues could be killed.