The spreading of a ‘dangerous narrative’ around the shooting of Chris Kaba by those in authority risked undermining British justice, the head of Scotland Yard has warned.
Sir Mark Rowley suggested ‘people with huge influence’ had damaged trust in police after several Labour politicians, including Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy called for ‘justice’ when the gangster was shot dead on September 5, 2022.
Police marksman Sergeant Martyn Blake was later acquitted of murder in just three hours by jurors who decided it was lawful to shoot the 24-year-old through the windscreen after Kaba tried to use an Audi Q8 as a ‘battering ram’, almost running over officers in his bid to escape police.
Now the Met Police Commissioner has revealed that Kaba’s notorious 67 gang were involved in 11 shootings in the last year alone.
Sir Mark said the gang, which police consider the most dangerous in South London, is responsible for significant bloodshed on the streets and child exploitation, yet members are making money boasting about their exploits in music videos.
A senior gang member, Kaba had shot a rival in a packed nightclub just six days earlier and he was suspected of carrying out a shooting in Brixton on September 4, 2022 which prompted police to stop Kaba’s Audi on the night he died.
Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) suggested ‘people with huge influence’ had damaged trust in police
Police marksman Sergeant Martyn Blake was later acquitted of murder in just three hours by jurors who decided it was lawful to shoot 24-year-old Chris Kaba (pictured)
Footage from bodyworn police cameras showed the moment 24-year-old Chris Kaba’s car was surrounded by armed police in Streatham, south London, on September 5 2022
CCTV footage captured the aftermath of Chris Kaba’s shooting attack on gang rival Brandon Malutshi, in Hackney, east London, six days before he himself was fired on by police
Footage shown in evidence at trial on Police marksman shooting of Chris Kaba
Yet in the aftermath of the police shooting he was held up as an innocent black motorist targeted by police, sparking protests about racism.
Rap star Stormzy joined Labour MPs including Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott in calling for ‘justice’ and even after Sergeant Blake’s acquittal, Labour MP Kim Johnson claimed the ‘media are using racist gang tropes to justify the killing of Chris Kaba’.
Sir Mark said: ‘From the outset, over the last two years the majority of the conversation online focused entirely on Chris Kaba’s ethnicity.
‘Rumour and innuendo fuelled quite dangerous narratives about supposed facts that were detached from the evidence presented to court and the verdict delivered by 12 Londoners recently.
‘I go as far as to say that some people with huge influence risked undermining the British justice system and those people should know better.’
Speaking in a Crimestoppers dinner in London this week, Sir Mark said establishing the public’s trust in police needs to be a ‘shared endeavour’, adding: ‘It requires all of us, particularly those in positions of authority, to pull in the same direction on trust.
‘Unfortunately, I think too often this is just not the case.
Chris Kaba’s rap name was ‘Mad Itch’ or ‘Itch’ and he released drill rap songs bragging about gunning down rivals and selling drugs. A still from one of his videos is pictured above
‘I think that some people need to be more aware of the weight of their words.
‘The weight that their words hold and how their attitudes and actions can embolden them, those who work against the public.’
Sir Mark said his officers were now more frightened of ‘legal jeopardy’ than being physically attacked on the street.
Sergeant Blake, 40, is now in hiding fearing for his life and his family after the 67 gang put a £10,000 bounty on his head in revenge for Kaba’s death.
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Sir Mark said the gang in Lambeth made up of young men and teenagers was part of the disproportionality in London where young black men are 13 times more likely to be murdered than white men.
‘It’s a critical part of creating the disproportionality that sadly coerces and exploits black boys and draws them into gangs and crime,’ he said.
‘We know they’ve got about 95 key offenders at the centre of the gang. They’ve got many more associates on the fringes.
Chris Kaba (in blue) brazenly gunned down a rival in the middle of a Hackney nightclub during a bloody feud for control of a profitable county lines drug network on August 30 2022
‘They’re amongst the sort of 10 or so most active gangs in London, and a high number of the game are involved in exploitation of children.
‘(They) were into double figures of cases in the last year and (involved in) the distribution of drugs and indiscriminate use of firearms.’
‘Members of the network also continue to be active within the music industry and making a profit from that.. lyrics which incite violence and mock and goad rivals.
‘We assess at the moment that the 67 gang have been involved in at least 11 shootings over the last year.’
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