Overview

• The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has directed a gross misconduct hearing for Sgt Martyn Blake, citing potential breaches of professional standards in the 2022 fatal shooting of Chris Kaba.
• Blake was acquitted of murder in October 2024 after a jury unanimously accepted his defense that he acted to protect colleagues during a high-risk police operation in Streatham.
• The disciplinary hearing will apply a lower civil standard of proof, requiring an honest but reasonable belief, rather than the criminal threshold of beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Chris Kaba’s family has welcomed the IOPC’s decision, calling for Blake’s removal from the Metropolitan Police, while police associations have condemned the move as harmful to officer morale.
• The hearing will be chaired by a chief officer from another force to ensure impartiality, with no date yet set for the proceedings.