IOPC announce decision to drop misconduct proceedings against Met shooter

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have today announced that they have decided to formally drop gross misconduct proceedings against the Metropolitan Police firearms officer who killed Chris Kaba.

Chris Kaba, a 24 year old Black man, was fatally shot by Martyn Blake, a firearms officer from the Metropolitan Police on 5 September 2022 in Streatham, London. Chris was unarmed. Armed police officers did not know who he was at the time of the shooting.

In October 2024, Martyn Blake was acquitted of the murder of Chris. The IOPC reviewed the evidence at the criminal trial and then announced in April 2025 that Martyn Blake would face a misconduct hearing. The family subsequently learnt that the Metropolitan police had sent a private letter to the police watchdog, without the family’s knowledge, asking them to withdraw the misconduct process.

In January 2026, the family were informed that the disciplinary proceedings were being paused pending a proposed legislative change to the legal test to apply to future use of force cases.

These changes did then take place in June 2026. The test that is now applied in order for a police breach of the use of force standard to be proven is the criminal law test for self-defence or defence of another. Until these changes, the Supreme Court made clear that disciplinary panels must apply the civil law test for self-defence or defence of another. This enabled panels to find that misconduct had occurred where police officers had mistakenly used force.

Despite detailed representations from the family, asking the IOPC to follow through on its original intention to proceed with misconduct proceedings, in a letter received today, that request was rejected by the IOPC.

The IOPC confirms that it will be withdrawing its decision to bring gross misconduct proceedings against Martyn Blake. This means that he will now not face any disciplinary action or accountability for the fatal shooting of Chris on 5 September 2022.

Unrelated to the disciplinary proceedings, a pre-inquest review hearing is expected to take place this autumn before Senior Coroner Julian Morris at Inner South London Coroner’s Court to consider whether the inquest into Chris’ death will resume. The inquest is a separate process to both the criminal trial and police disciplinary process and would examine the broader circumstances of Chris death and the events that took place on 5 September 2022.

Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST, said: "It is clear from our work that when police kill, they remain above the law. The IOPC's capitulation to firearms officers demonstrates a troubling reluctance to provide fearless and independent oversight.

This is a blow to the family and a chilling reminder of the serious and dangerous erosion of police accountability. It sends a message that police can act with impunity.

The consequences for public confidence in policing, and for meaningful scrutiny of police use of force, are profound and far-reaching. They will be felt most acutely by communities that are already disproportionately policed and exposed to the greatest risks of police violence."

Temi Mwale, Justice for Chris Kaba Campaign, said: "We are appalled by the IOPC's decision to abandon disciplinary proceedings against Martyn Blake. This is a devastating blow - not just to Chris Kaba's family, but to everyone who cares about living in a society where the police are not above the law.

The extraordinary treatment of Martyn Blake throughout this case sends a dangerous message: when police kill, the system will bend over backwards to protect police officers rather than hold them accountable and deliver justice. The IOPC had a choice. Today it chose not to do the right thing. That decision is deeply damaging to public confidence in its independence and its willingness to hold police officers to account.

The police continue to fight for absolute impunity and Britain is moving backwards on police accountability.

We will continue to fight for the kind of society we want to live in. A society where no one is above the law - not police officers, not anyone. Where those entrusted with the greatest powers are held to the highest standards and where communities can expect accountability, truth and justice as the norm."

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

For further information contact Jodie Anderson on jodieanderson@inquest.org.uk

Follow the Justice for Chris Kaba campaign here.

Chris’s family are represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Daniel Machover and Ellie Cornish of Hickman & Rose, and Matthew Ryder KC and Ifeanyi Odogwu of Matrix Chambers. The family are supported by INQUEST’s Casework Co-Lead, Jodie Anderson.

RELEVANT BACKGROUND

In October 2024, following the acquittal of Martyn Blake, the Home Office commissioned a review into police accountability. This review recommended changes in October 2025 to how police use of force is assessed in misconduct cases. The response to this rapid review was published later that month.

In June 2026, The Police (Conduct) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 come into force. This changed the test for deciding whether a police office has a case to answer (and therefore should face misconduct proceedings) for breaching the standards of professional behaviour, when using force. It made it so that the higher “criminal law test” would apply when considering if a breach had occurred, instead of the lower “civil law test”.

The new regulations made it clear that the civil law test should still continue to apply to cases where an investigation began before 30 June 2026 and includes cases where proceedings have been directed but are outstanding (these are known as ‘transitional cases’). It stated that where such cases go to disciplinary proceedings where there is a case to answer, when applying the civil law test only, officers may face dismissal for conduct which if repeated at the time of the proceedings could not amount to misconduct at all.

However, in July 2026, the IOPC issued its policy on how it would treat outstanding misconduct cases involving use of force. In such cases, it said that disciplinary action would no longer be justified, and that any proceedings would be withdrawn, unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances'. You can read Chris’ family’s response to this update here.

These changes to the disciplinary rules on police use of force, including on cases where misconduct proceedings were already commenced prior to 30 June, will apply to all instances involving fatal and non-fatal use of force by police officers. As a consequence, scrutiny and accountability for each such use of force will inevitably go down. Bereaved families and victims of police use of force already faced a huge uphill struggle to obtain disciplinary action and the IOPC data shows that very few cases make it to a full investigation, let alone disciplinary proceedings or the very rare outcome of a finding of gross misconduct.

A review by Baroness Casey in 2023 found that the Metropolitan police was institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic. Looking at the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Firearms Command unit (MO19), which Martyn Blake was in when he shot Chris Kaba, the report found a ‘deeply troubling, toxic culture’ where ‘normal rules do not seem to apply.’

Read INQUEST's joint submission to the Police Accountability Review 2024-25.

RECENT STATS ON DEATHS IN AND FOLLOWING POLICE CUSTODY

On 30 July 2026, the IOPC published its latest annual data for 2025/26 on deaths in and following police custody. It showed that 27 people died in and following police custody, a substantial increase from 18 people who had died the previous year.

Fatal police shootings increased by 100%. Four people were fatally shot in 2025/26, compared to two the previous year. It is the highest number of fatal shootings since 2017/18.

You can read INQUEST’s response to the data here.

CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS OF POLICE OFFICERS INVOLVED IN DEATHS

Since 1990 there have been 1,948 deaths recorded by INQUEST in or following police custody or contact. In that time only one on duty police officer has been found guilty of manslaughter in 2021, and none for murder.

Dalian Atkinson, 48, died on 15 August 2016, following use of force by officers of West Mercia police. PC Benjamin Monk was found guilty of his manslaughter, and was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2021. More information.

In total there have been 12 murder or manslaughter prosecutions brought relating to on duty police officers, including the prosecution of Martyn Blake and the prosecution in the Dalian Atkinson case.

The ten other murder and manslaughter charges did not result in guilty verdicts. Three of these previous cases related to police shootings (this is the fourth), two of which were by Metropolitan Police officers.

Prosecutions have also been brought following deaths in police contact under Health and Safety legislation.

Other criminal charges against officers, such as perjury and misconduct in public office, have been brought following deaths in custody, but most have led to acquittals or not guilty verdicts.

FATAL POLICE SHOOTINGS

Since 1990, INQUEST is aware of 88 people that have been fatally shot by the police in England and Wales.

There have been three other murder or manslaughter prosecutions following police shootings:

Azelle Rodneywas fatally shot by a Metropolitan police officer in 2005 during a hard stop in North London. Following the public inquiry into the death, which found the officer did not have a lawful justification for killing Azelle, the officer was prosecuted with murder. In 2015, that officer was found not guilty by a majority verdict.

James Ashleywas fatally shot in his bedroom by police in 1998 in St Leonards, East Sussex. PC Sherwood was charged following an investigation into the death. Four other Sussex officers were charged with other offences. In 2001, the trials collapsed and no officer was found guilty of any criminal charge.

David Ewin was fatally shot by police in Barnes, London in February 1995. The Metropolitan Police officer who shot him was found not guilty of both the murder and manslaughter of David in 1997. It was the third time the officer had faced trial, after previous juries failed to reach a verdict.

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