Hung out to dry
CHRIS Kaba was a gangster who shot a rival in a nightclub before ramming armed officers in a car linked to another shooting just 24 hours earlier.
Firearms cop Martyn Blake had an instant to decide whether to fire to stop him.
PAFirearms cop Martyn Blake had an instant to decide whether to fire to stop gangster Chris Kaba[/caption]
Charged with murder, and with a £10,000 bounty on his head from Kaba’s gang, Sgt Blake faced a torrent of abuse from left-wing MPs desperate to jump on any racism bandwagon.
After being cleared by a jury and backed by Met chief Sir Mark Rowley, he has endured a six-month wait to see if he would face gross misconduct charges.
Surely Sgt Blake has suffered enough? Clearly the police watchdog thought not, judging by its decision yesterday to press ahead with a hearing.
The IOPC denies bending to intense pressure from Kaba’s family and “community” activists.
But it’s hard to see how pursuing Sgt Blake further is in the public interest.
Who would now be a gun cop, knowing a split-second move could end in a life sentence or loss of career?
These brave officers deserve so much better than living daily under the threat of prosecution and persecution.
Chill of silence
HAVING censured a newspaper for reporting details of a rape trial in open court last year, the Press regulator has now turned on the centuries-old right of journalists to accurately reveal what is said in Parliament.
Ipso’s decision to rule in favour of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) against the Telegraph — for repeating Michael Gove’s Commons claims that it was “affiliated” to the banned Muslim Brotherhood terror group — is chilling.
Regulators said MAB denied any ties and should have had a right of reply.
But links had already been exposed in a Government report in 2015.
Extremists are only too keen to use libel and other laws to stop investigations into their activities.
Balancing the rights of individuals and groups against the freedoms of the Press is difficult.
But undermining a central plank of our democracy by censoring reporting of what is said in Parliament is the last thing a regulator should do.
Care to throne
WITH typical stoicism but no little emotion the King yesterday highlighted the “daunting and frightening” struggle against cancer.
In doing so he also saluted the tens of thousands of carers who make up the “very best of humanity”, and hailed the legacy of our very own Deborah James.
Both King and Dame remain inspirations to millions.
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