DAILY MAIL COMMENT: The Martyn Blake case raises troubling questions

The first test any criminal case must pass before being sent to trial by the Crown Prosecution Service is that there is enough evidence to provide ‘a realistic prospect of conviction’.

This means a jury, if properly directed in law, would be more likely than not to convict. Clearing that hurdle is meant to be a sine qua non for all prosecutions.

So how could Government lawyers have thought it justifiable to try firearms officer Sgt Martyn Blake for murder, when there was virtually no prospect of conviction.

The jury took just three hours to acquit him of unlawfully killing Chris Kaba during a ‘hard’ police stop – and that was without the jurors knowing Kaba was a highly dangerous, violent gangster.

With the lifting of reporting restrictions yesterday, he was revealed as the ‘principal gunman’ of a notorious Brixton crime syndicate, wanted in connection with two shootings. This doesn’t mean he deserved to die, but he was certainly no angel.

Police officers work as people gather outside the Old Bailey after British police officer Martyn Blake was acquitted of the 2022 murder of Chris Kaba 

The jury took just three hours to acquit him of unlawfully killing Chris Kaba (pictured) during a ‘hard’ police stop

There was no evidence adduced that Sgt Blake set out with intent to kill or that he discharged his weapon recklessly. Indeed, fellow officers testified they would have done the same in his shoes.

The jury quickly concluded Sgt Blake was doing the job he was trained for – protecting the public. As Kaba drove his powerful Audi Q8 like a ‘battering ram’ at police vehicles, the officer believed lives were in danger, so acted.

With no realistic prospect of conviction, there are suspicions that this trial was politically motivated.

But there are consequences. Kaba’s gangster friends are now said to be offering a £10,000 reward to anyone who can tell them where Sgt Blake is, so they can exact revenge. It is truly chilling.

The Metropolitan Police has taken a barrage of criticism in recent times, some of it deserved. But we must never forget that officers like Sgt Blake put their safety at risk every day on our behalf.

If we want them to keep doing that, we must stand behind them when the going gets tough – not sacrifice them like pawns in some squalid game of gesture politics.

Make polluters pay

Ministers need to get a grip of this dysfunctional industry once and for all, with the threat of criminal prosecutions if necessary. Pictured: The London skyline

The bid by water companies to raise bills by an average of 40 per cent over five years will be seen by customers as an outrage.

They have polluted our seas and rivers with raw sewage on innumerable occasions, incurred unsustainable debts, and under-invested in infrastructure while extracting huge dividends and bonuses. Now they expect bill-payers to bail them out.

An independent review of the whole industry was launched yesterday, which will probably see the abolition of the toothless regulator, Ofwat. But while this is welcome, it will not solve the problem alone.

Ministers need to get a grip of this dysfunctional industry once and for all, with the threat of criminal prosecutions if necessary. It’s high time the polluters were made to pay for their sins.

Get out of jail free

More jubilant scenes outside prisons as hundreds more lags were released early yesterday as part of Labour’s brilliant plan to ease overcrowding.

Many were ushered to waiting luxury cars, including a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley and several Mercedes limousines.

The police must surely wonder why they bother catching criminals at all, when they are put back on the streets so soon.