British police officer named in Chris Kaba murder pleads not guilty
Al Jazeera
Judge lifts officer Martyn Blake’s anonymity because there are no ‘immediate’ threats to his safety.
A British police officer, named for the first time as Martyn Blake, has pleaded not guilty to the murder in 2022 of Chris Kaba, a 24-year-old Black man.
Kaba, who was unarmed, was driving in Streatham Hill, south London, on September 5, 2022, when he was stopped by police firearms specialists. He was shot in the head through the car windscreen and died the following day.
The officer who shot Kaba was previously identified only by the codename NX121 because he had faced some threats to his safety.
However, Judge Mark Lucraft lifted his anonymity on Friday, saying there was no “real and immediate risk” to Blake after analysing the threats.
Blake, 40, entered his not-guilty plea on Friday at London’s Old Bailey court, where he will stand trial on October 2.
