Met asks coroner not to resume an inquest into Chris Kaba's death

The Met has made submissions to the coroner that an inquest into the death of Chris Kaba should not be resumed.

At a hearing at Southwark Coroner’s Court on Thursday, 1 October the Met outlined that the four questions considered by a coronial process – who died and when, where and how they died - have been answered completely by a criminal trial and an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Firearms officer NX121 was unanimously acquitted by an Old Bailey jury with the IOPC later deciding he should not face a gross misconduct hearing.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman said: “The circumstances around Chris Kaba’s death have already been fully established during the independent IOPC investigation and criminal trial.

“In particular, the actions of officer NX121 have been comprehensively examined and cross-examined. After four years of unimaginable stress and uncertainty for the officer and his family, the facts of what happened are known and he has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

“While our thoughts remain with Mr Kaba’s family for their loss, resuming the inquest and duplicating the investigations that have already taken place is not in the public interest.

“Firearms officers risk their lives to keep the public safe – and as professionals they understand that any police shooting will be rightly scrutinised to establish the facts.

“But there must be an end point to that process, and it is our submission to the coroner that we have reached that point in this case.”

The coroner, having heard submissions from all parties, will make a decision on whether the inquest should be resumed at a later date.

The submissions by the Met are attached.

Background:

Our armed officers respond to more than 4,000 incidents each year, but there are only one or two incidents where shots are fired by police. It is undeniable that they are the most professional, most accountable and most cautious in their use of lethal force in the world.

No police officer is above the law but, as the Commissioner has been clear, the police accountability system is out of balance.

Criminals are held to account once by the courts - officers can be required to answer for their actions four times through criminal, misconduct, civil and inquest processes that span years.

We support the review announced by the Home Office of the whole police accountability system to make it fairer, faster, proportionate and more effective for all involved.

Read the Commissioner’s previous comments here: Firearms officer NX121 will not face a misconduct hearing | Metropolitan Police