The Shooting of Chris Kaba and Failing the Victims of Mohamed Al-Fayed

Double Jeopardy - The Law and Politics Podcast

Metropolitan Police firearms officer Martyn Blake has been acquitted of the murder of gangster Chris Kaba. He may still face the sack because the Independent Office for Police Conduct can pursue disciplinary actions even after a criminal acquittal. How does this process work? And what are the complexities in cases like this? Were the CPS right to prosecute and how does the law of self-defence impact the actions of armed officers?

Ken Macdonald and Tim Owen are back to discuss these and other questions arising from police shootings. They look at the role of the CPS in deciding to prosecute police officers, and historical cases like that of Jean Charles Menezes. Do the rules around the prosecution of police officers need to change? Would the public really have confidence in a system that offered special protection from prosecution for police officers?

In this episode they also consider the growing scandal of Mohamed Al-Fayed’s apparent serial sex offending, and the atrocious police response to the complaints of scores of women.