Police officers have slammed the BBC for its ‘utter lack of balance’ in a new Panorama documentary about the fatal shooting of violent gang member Chris Kaba.
The 24-year-old was shot in the head by Met firearms officer Sergeant Martyn Blake as he tried to ram his way out of a police roadblock in Streatham.
Critics rounded on the BBC for repeatedly referring to the career criminal as ‘unarmed’ despite him being behind the wheel of an Audi Q8 that Sgt Blake feared he would use to run over his colleagues in a desperate bid to escape.
They also questioned the timing of the broadcast, a fortnight after the officer was cleared of murder and it emerged associates of Kaba’s notorious ’67’ gang had placed a £10,000 bounty on his head.
The documentary featured an interview with Kaba’s grieving parents, who said officers should have arrested their son rather than shooting him dead. Police footage shows that officers repeatedly ordered the gang member to get out of his car.
Matt Cane, General Secretary of the Metropolitan Police Federation, accused the BBC of failing in its duty to be impartial.
‘Police officers will be stunned – but perhaps not surprised – about the utter lack of balance in the BBC Panorama documentary aired last night over the death of Chris Kaba,’ he said.
‘We say again the ramifications of this case remain widespread; police officers should not have their livelihoods, and their liberty, put at risk for performing what unequivocally, in this case, was his lawful and appropriate function.
‘The continued use of the word ”unarmed” when talking about Kaba remains scandalous when we consider how many colleagues have lost their lives because of vehicles. Cars are – in the hands of dangerous criminals – very much weapons.’
Armed police began tailing Kaba’s Audi Q8 on the night of September 5, 2022, because his Audi Q8 had been used as a getaway car in a gang-related shooting the night before in Brixton.
Kaba himself had shot a gang rival in both legs at the Oval Space nightclub in Tower Hamlets on August 30, 2022.
The gangster was found to have gunshot residue on his sleeve and a balaclava in his pocket on the night he was killed by Sgt Blake, a fact Peter Bleksley – himself a former Met firearms officer – accused the BBC of failing to mention.
He said: ‘Dear @BBCPanorama, was it an oversight or a deliberate omission, to fail to mention that there was firearm residue on Kaba’s sleeve at the time he was shot, and that he was also in possession of a balaclava? Please, do tell…’
The documentary featured Sal Naseem, a former director at the Independent Office for Police Conduct, who said the Met had been ‘pressing’ him over whether a firearm was found in Kaba’s car at the time of the shooting.
He told the programme: ‘A forensic examination had been done. We were satisfied that no non-police firearms had been recovered. I remember having an exchange with a senior officer from the Met where they were questioning, ”Are you certain that the vehicle has been sweeped thoroughly enough?”
‘They were pressing me, ”Are you sure? Are you sure there’s not a firearm here?” Yes, we were sure. It betrayed a strong desire that something was found. Then, the scenario becomes ”this was an armed man”, and the picture it paints is different to the scenario where he was unarmed.’
Mr Naseem added that he was not convinced at the time that Kaba was enough of a danger to justify Sgt Blake’s decision to kill him.
The IOPC has insisted Mr Naseem does not represent its official view, adding that he was not a key decision-maker in the Kaba case when it concluded.
Also featured in the documentary were Kaba’s parents, Prosper and Helen.
Prosper told Panorama that following his son’s death, he has felt no reason to keep living life.
He said: ‘People have to lose their parents. This is life – you are born, you have your parents, they die. You can understand it, you can explain. But a parent who loses a son, especially at that age… for me, life doesn’t have any meaning.’
Chris Hobbs, a former Met officer and police commentator, suggested the documentary was poorly timed.
‘The timing of this documentary is very questionable, given that there remains a significant threat to Sgt Blake’s life,’ he told the Telegraph.
‘The flames have only just begun to die down, but then you have the IOPC and its investigator choosing to throw petrol onto the embers, with the assistance of the BBC and its Panorama documentary.
‘We are now fully aware of the extreme levels of violence which surrounded Mr Kaba and his fellow gang thugs.
‘This documentary is therefore only likely to increase the risk faced by the officer who was found not guilty of murder.
The programme was also aired despite proceedings into alleged misconduct remaining active.
One serving Met firearms officer told the newspaper: ‘Two weeks ago, Sgt Blake was cleared of murder by a jury of his peers. They took just three hours to decide the case against him was unfounded.
‘We then discover that Chris Kaba was a key member of one of the most dangerous gangs in London and members of that enterprise have placed a £10,000 bounty on Sgt Blake’s life.
‘I would have hoped all of that might be enough to persuade the BBC to hold off airing such a potentially provocative programme. But sadly not. Let’s just hope this doesn’t spark the sort of violent backlash that we feared following the verdict.’
A BBC spokesman said: ‘This investigation is in the public interest.
‘All of our programmes are produced in accordance with the BBC’s editorial guidelines – this includes a commitment to impartiality and hearing a range of perspectives.
‘We encourage people to watch the documentary in full and to make up their own minds.’
Kaba was a leading member of the 67 gang, which police consider the most dangerous gang in South London.
Just six days before his death, Kaba brazenly gunned down a rival in the middle of a crowded nightclub during a bloody feud for control of a profitable county lines drug network.
In a shocking attack captured on CCTV, the gangster started blasting at Brandon Malutshi chasing him outside the Oval Space Club in Hackney, with one of the bullets hitting him in the leg.
Had he not been killed, Kaba would have stood trial at the Old Bailey for the attempted murder of Mr Malutshi who miraculously survived the nightclub shooting on August 30, 2022.
His accomplices were later convicted for their role in the shooting during a trial effectively held in secret to avoid any prejudice to jurors in the Blake case.
CCTV footage showed Kaba spotting his rival at the club on the evening of August 30, 2022, before grabbing a bag from a friend, pulling on a single black glove then covering his face.
He then snatched the pistol from the bag and fired across the dancefloor at Malutshi, who sprinted away.
Kaba chased him and fired a volley of bullets at his target, hitting him in the leg just below the buttock.
Mr Malutshi, a member of the ’17’ gang, was flown by air ambulance to the Royal London Hospital and survived the shooting, eventually discharging himself against medical advice with a small bullet fragment still in his right leg.
Kaba’s associates, Shemiah Bell and Marcus Pottinger, both 31, were found guilty of wounding with intent in February while Connel Bamgboye, 29, was convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
But it was Kaba who had pulled the trigger as part of a vicious war for control over a ‘county lines’ drug dealing network which raged between the two gangs.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘We reject the suggestion that the documentary is unfair or unbalanced. This is a public interest investigation into the events of the night of the shooting and their context and consequences.
‘A broad range of important issues are covered in the programme, including: how the armed police operation unfolded, Chris Kaba’s criminal history and his actions when the police tried to stop him, as well as community tensions, and concerns over the way firearms officers are handled when they are subject to an investigation of a firearms discharge.
‘In addition to interviews with Chris Kaba’s family, the programme also featured interviews with the former IOPC official who led the investigation, a former Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, and serving and former firearms officers. It contains a detailed analysis of what happened on the night using police bodycam footage and the assessment, at the time, of the independent watchdog’s regional director.
‘All of our programmes are produced in accordance with the BBC’s editorial guidelines. We advise people to watch the documentary and to make up their own minds.’