Chris Kaba: Household of man killed by police criticise ‘unacceptable’ delay in charging choice

The household of a person who was killed by police final yr say the wait to listen to whether or not the officer concerned will face prison prices is agonising.

Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of Chris Kaba‘s loss of life in Streatham Hill, southeast London.

He was shot useless after the automotive he was driving was adopted by an unmarked police car with no lights or sirens.

He become Kirkstall Gardens, a slim residential avenue, the place he was blocked by a marked police automotive. The two automobiles collided and a marksman fired one shot by means of the windscreen, hitting Mr Kaba within the head.

It later emerged that the Audi the 24-year-old was driving, which didn’t belong to him, had been linked by police to a firearms incident yesterday.

Mr Kaba, a building employee, was months away from changing into a father when he died.

His family has accused the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of an absence of urgency in deciding prices within the case.

Prosecutors have had the file of proof, put collectively by watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), since March.

In an announcement, Mr Kaba’s household stated: “We demand a charging choice with out additional delay. Throughout the final yr, there was an absence of urgency.

“Our family, alongside the community who have supported us over the past year, have been consistent in our call for accountability.

“We consider that it was attainable inside six months of Chris being killed each for the IOPC to finish a well-resourced and efficient prison investigation and for the CPS to supply us with a charging choice.”

His family are holding a protest outside New Scotland Yard on Saturday to demand answers.

Deborah Coles, director of the charity Inquest which helps bereaved households, stated: “It is simply unacceptable we do not yet have a charging decision.

“This exacerbates the household’s trauma and grieving course of.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Daniel Machover from Hickman and Rose – who represent the family – said he was “appalled” by the CPS’s delay in making a decision on charges.

“In what different comparable suspected murder case involving firearms discharged by a civilian does the CPS contemplate it applicable to take so lengthy to make a charging choice?”

The CPS stated it doesn’t present timescales for charging selections.

A spokeswoman stated: “We are carefully considering the file of evidence to determine whether criminal charges should be brought in relation to the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba.

“As at all times, we’ll make that call independently, primarily based on the proof and according to our authorized take a look at.”

According to Inquest, there have been 1,869 deaths in or following police custody in England and Wales since 1990.

There has solely been one conviction of a police officer in that point – West Mercia Police Constable Benjamin Monk who was jailed in 2021 for the manslaughter of former footballer Dalian Atkinson.

Mr Atkinson was tasered to the bottom and kicked within the head in 2016.