Chris Kaba: Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman and Mark Rowley must let the court do its job
While criminal proceedings are under way, Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman have backed a review of armed policing.
Justice must be allowed to run its course. A Met Police firearms officer has been charged with the murder of Chris Kaba and will enter a plea on December 1. From there the officer, who has been granted legal anonymity and is known as NX121, will either be sentenced or face trial.
Should the officer be cleared, it will be appropriate to review how the prosecution came about.
It is understandable that serving firearms officers are concerned about their position, and the commissioner has an operational challenge if, as reported, more than 100 officers have handed in their weapons.
But one thing we have learnt in recent years is that police accountability has been sorely lacking, and the nature of this incident, in which a man died, is now with the court to assess.
Home secretary Suella Braverman’s review into armed policing is all very well, but her description of the actions of officers having “to make split-second decisions under extraordinary pressures” comes perilously close to giving her view on a particular incident.
The prime minister has piled in with similar comments and Mark Rowley has published an open letter with calls for changes to the laws.
If a murder trial proceeds over the death of Chris Kaba, jurors will have to make a judgement on the actions of one man in one specific case. And they must be allowed to do so without the weight of Westminster on their shoulders - on top of what will already be a great responsibility.