‘Too damn late!’ Fury erupts over Yvette Cooper’s delayed reaction to giving police court anonymity
Journalist and commentator Carole Malone has claimed it is “too damn late” for police to be granted anonymity in shooting cases, following Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s recent announcement.
The move comes in the wake of the high-profile Chris Kaba case, where Metropolitan Police Officer Martyn Blake was cleared of murder.
Cooper revealed in the Commons yesterday that firearms officers facing criminal charges after shootings will now have anonymity until conviction.
Malone told GB News: “What we found out two days ago about Chris Kaba was that he belonged to one of London’s most notorious gangs, that he shot people, that he’d had convictions for weapons.
“What really hacks me off, even this week [Sadiq] Khan put out another statement and talked about his devastation for the family.
“Yes, they have lost a son, but we can’t make this man out to be a martyr or a hero because he was neither of those things.
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“But what upsets me about Khan, he’s still going on about the devastation to the black community and all the rest of it.
“Not once did he mention Martyn Blake. Not once did he mention what happened to his family, the pain and agony he has been over for the last two years.”
She continued: “Now this move by Yvette Cooper today is too damn late, where she has just said that cops will have anonymity in the shootings.”
However, commentator Jonathan Lis argued: “It’s a really difficult one because obviously you have the specific case of Chris Kaba, and we have to respect what the jury has found.
“Then you have a broader issue about broad distrust between the police and the black community, which is completely undeniable.”
He added: “I think it’s also true that people can do bad things and still be victims of injustice.
“I mean, he might have been he might have been a gangster and still have been unlawfully killed.”
Malone later added: “What this does is foster the notion that armed cops are trigger-happy. They are not.”
Cooper told the Commons yesterday afternoon: “When officers act in the most dangerous situations on behalf of the state it is vital that those officers and their families are not put in further danger during any subsequent legal proceedings.
“So we will therefore introduce a presumption of anonymity for firearms officers subject to criminal trial following a police shooting in the course of their professional duties, up to the point of conviction.”