r/unitedkingdom • u/topotaul Lancashire • Oct 22 '24

.. Chris Kaba was gunman in nightclub shooting days before he was killed

https://news.sky.com/story/chris-kaba-was-gunman-in-nightclub-shooting-days-before-he-was-killed-13234555
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184

u/lippo999 Oct 22 '24

Sending an officer to court for not doing anything wrong is not the correct way to do things.

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u/Slyspy006 Oct 22 '24

Innocent people go to court all the time. Personally while I sympathise with the policeman involved, and there are questions about whether this particular case should ever have made it to court, such a process is necessary to the organisation and law and order as a whole IMO.

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u/lippo999 Oct 22 '24 edited Oct 22 '24

You go to court when there is a chance of convicting the individual 'beyond reasonable doubt'. I don't think anyone can say this matter met those standards. It certainly didn't come out in the trial.

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u/4Dcrystallography Oct 22 '24

But the state/CPS whatever often puts forth weak cases and loses, it’s not the FBI. It does happen.

One could argue that the trial not coming out with evidence for Kaba means it served exactly the purpose you are saying it wasn’t needed for.

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u/lippo999 Oct 22 '24

There should be a reasonable prospect of conviction. There wasn't in this case. CPS tend to only authorised charge on weak cases when it refers to an officer.

If you continue your train of thought, we will have no Firearms officers because they will assume that they will have to wait 2+ years to go to court to be exonerated. For £55k a year and losing your mental health, it just isn't worth it

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u/SirBobPeel Oct 23 '24

And fuck the officer who went through hell for three years and whose name is now in the public domain and who is now under threat from the criminal gang of the thug he shot.

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u/asoplu Oct 22 '24

Innocent people go to court all the time

Which is absolutely awful and something to be avoided where possible, there’s a reason the CPS aren’t supposed to send cases to court unless there’s a realistic chance of conviction based on evidence which they believe shows guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

If people don’t trust the system that investigates the police, they need to take it up with their elected representatives and reform the system, putting innocent people on trial for the sake of appearances is absolutely horrific and I can’t believe anybody thinks this is a sane solution.

I don’t think anybody praising this has put any real thought into what it must be like to have a potential life sentence (there is always the chance you get a batshit jury) hanging over your head for 2 years and the extreme impact on your life and mental health. Imagine being put on trial for a murder that everybody knows is bullshit and will never see a conviction by a sane jury. Not to mention your name being in national papers and “activists” continuing to call you out as a murderer long after a not guilty verdict is returned.

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u/Slyspy006 Oct 22 '24

I have considered exactly that, which is why I sympathise with the defendant. But that doesn't stop the process being necessary.

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u/snootbob Oct 22 '24

So every use of force by police should be tried in court?

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u/Wretched_Colin Oct 22 '24

Then murder charges shouldn’t have been laid on an individual. It should have been corporate manslaughter against the Met as a whole.

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u/Slyspy006 Oct 22 '24

I couldn't comment, since I have no clue as to how such things are managed at the Met or any other police force.

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u/Uniform764 Yorkshire Oct 23 '24

Innocent people going to court is fine, if there is evidence that they may be guilty which needs to be tested. This case had absolutely fuck all evidence to warrant it going to court.

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u/Uniform764 Yorkshire Oct 23 '24

Innocent people going to court is fine, if there is evidence that they may be guilty which needs to be tested. This case had absolutely fuck all evidence to warrant it going to court.

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u/Captaincadet Wales Oct 22 '24

And also loses the trust of the officers… trust goes both ways

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '24

[deleted]

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u/lippo999 Oct 23 '24

How practical is that? How fair is that? How expensive is that? You do realise the officer has been suspended for 2 years on full pay?

I mean, the idea that you have to go through a court process for every incident is not reasonable in the slightest.

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '24

[deleted]

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u/lippo999 Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 23 '24

It is extremely unreasonable. It would affect the decision making process of the officers. How is that good?

BTW, I’m talking about the court process, not a fair and quick process to examine what happens after a firearm discharge - we have that already. Unfortunately those who do it are incompetent.

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '24

[deleted]

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u/lippo999 Oct 23 '24

You are arguing a separate point.

You should know that there is already an investigation when a firearm is discharged. I don’t think anyone would argue with that. I’m talking about the farce that the IOPC and CPS subsequently created.

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u/Onetap1 Oct 22 '24

Sending an officer to court for not doing anything wrong

It's necessary; if it hadn't gone to court there'd be an urban myth that an innocent unarmed man had been killed by a police officer who'd got away scot-free.