Latest news with #Kaba
India Today
22-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
DC could not find a settled opening pair: Head coach Hemang Badani after MI loss
0:49 Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Karni Mata Temple in Bikaner, Rajasthan, on May 22, 2025. Known as the 'Rat Temple', it is home to around 25,000 sacred rats, locally called Kaba.
India Today
22-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
PM Modi Visits Karni Mata Temple in Rajasthan's Bikaner District
0:49 Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Karni Mata Temple in Bikaner, Rajasthan, on May 22, 2025. Known as the 'Rat Temple', it is home to around 25,000 sacred rats, locally called Kaba.
Daily Mail
03-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Insanity... Suella Braverman hits out at new probe into officer who shot dead gangster Chris Kaba
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. '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.'
Spectator
30-04-2025
- Spectator
The Chris Kaba misconduct case doesn't make sense
Here we go again. For those who drew up the convoluted regulations around police misconduct, the decision to proceed with a disciplinary hearing against the policeman who shot dead the notorious gangster Chris Kaba makes perfect sense. For most people though, it's utter madness. In September 2022, police sergeant Martyn Blake killed Chris Kaba with a single shot to the head, through the windscreen of the Audi Kaba had been driving in south London. The 24-year-old had refused orders to stop the car, which was linked to a serious firearms incident the previous night, and had tried to ram it free from the police vehicles blocking it. Sgt Blake was tried for murder. The officer said he'd fired in self-defence to 'incapacitate' the driver (at the time, he didn't know it was Kaba) in order to protect his colleagues who he feared might be run over. He
The Independent
30-04-2025
- The Independent
Fury as armed officer who shot Chris Kaba to face disciplinary hearing
A police group has reacted with fury at the 'nonsensical' decision that the police marksman who shot Chris Kaba should face a disciplinary hearing and could be sacked. Metropolitan Police officer Martyn Blake, 41, shot the 24-year-old in Streatham, south-east London, in September 2022 after Mr Kaba tried to ram his way past police cars that had hemmed him in. He was cleared of murder over the shooting in October, but on Wednesday watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said he will still have to face gross misconduct proceedings. IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: '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. 'The legal test for deciding whether there is a case to answer is low – is there sufficient evidence upon which, on the balance of probabilities, a disciplinary panel could make a finding of misconduct. This has been met and therefore we need to follow the legal process. 'We appreciate that the Home Office is carrying out a review of the legal test for the use of force in misconduct cases, however, we must apply the law as it currently stands.' Metropolitan Police bosses had argued that the evidence against Mr Blake had been 'tested significantly' during the trial and that the IOPC should reconsider whether he should face a disciplinary hearing. Matt Cane, general secretary of the Metropolitan Police Federation that represents rank and file officers in the force, said: 'This is frankly a nonsensical ruling by the IOPC that will shock police officers across London and indeed the country. ' Police officers should not have their livelihoods or liberty put at risk for performing what unequivocally, as has been found in a court of law, is their lawful and appropriate function. 'And yet putting this brave officer on trial for murder – as astonishing as that was – was not enough for the IOPC. Being cleared unanimously by a jury who heard all the evidence was not enough for the IOPC. They have now decided to put him and his family through more torment. 'This is not accountability. This is not in the public interest. This is not right or fair or just. 'We will be vigorously defending the actions of Sgt Blake at any conduct proceedings.' If the hearing finds he committed gross misconduct he could face the sack. 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 standby to plug the gap. On Wednesday, Met Police Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, using the cypher NX121 that was given to Mr Blake before a judge ruled he could be publicly named, said: 'NX121 made a split-second decision on what he believed was necessary to protect his colleagues and London and a jury unanimously decided that was an honestly held belief and the force used was reasonable. 'However, the IOPC has now determined that NX121 has a case to answer for his use of force and has directed us to hold a gross misconduct hearing. 'We know another lengthy process will fall heavily on the shoulders of NX121 and more widely our firearms officers, who continue to bravely and tirelessly police the streets of London every day to protect the public.' A chief officer from an outside force will be asked to chair the disciplinary hearing, which will be held in due course, the force said. In a statement issued through the charity Inquest, Mr Kaba's family welcomed the IOPC's decision. 'We hope this leads to him being removed from the Met Police,' they said. 'What Martyn Blake did was deeply wrong. We are still so devastated to have lost Chris – this should never have happened. 'The fact that the Met promoted Martyn Blake after the verdict only deepened our pain and showed a complete disregard for our loss. 'Martyn Blake should not be allowed to remain a police officer. He should lose his job.' Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, called it 'reprehensible' that the Met had to be directed to hold a disciplinary hearing. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said he was 'deeply disappointed' by the watchdog's decision. Writing on X, he said: 'We need to support police officers who do difficult things to protect the public, provided they act in accordance with the law, as a jury found this officer did. 'This has hung over Sergeant Blake for too long. I think the IOPC has got this wrong.'
