The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has announced that Metropolitan Police officer Martyn Blake, who was acquitted of murder in the shooting of Chris Kaba, will now face gross misconduct proceedings. The decision comes after a thorough review of the incident that occurred in September 2022, where Blake shot Kaba, an unarmed 24-year-old, during a police operation in Streatham, south-east London.

The case has drawn significant public attention, particularly from Black communities and the wider policing community, highlighting concerns over police use of force and accountability. The IOPC's decision to proceed with a misconduct hearing is based on the evidence reviewed and the legal thresholds that govern such cases, despite Blake's acquittal in a criminal court. The watchdog emphasized the need to follow the legal process as it stands, acknowledging the ongoing review by the Home Office into the legal test for the use of force in misconduct cases.

During the incident, Kaba was attempting to maneuver his vehicle away from police cars that had surrounded him. Blake, who was inside a marked police BMW at the time, fired a single shot that fatally struck Kaba in the head. The officer testified that he acted out of fear for his colleagues' lives, a claim that led to his acquittal by a jury that deliberated for just sixteen minutes.

The upcoming misconduct hearing will determine whether Blake's actions amounted to gross misconduct, which could result in his dismissal from the force. The IOPC has stated that the decision to pursue the hearing was made after considering all evidence and the views of all parties involved, underscoring the complexity and sensitivity of cases involving police use of lethal force.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has announced an urgent independent inquiry into maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, describing himself as "shocked" by families' experiences of "repeated maternity failures in Leeds - made worse by the unacceptable response of the trust." The decision comes after years of campaigning by bereaved families who reported feeling "gaslit, dismissed and even blamed" for what went wrong at one of Europe's largest teaching hospitals. Mr. Streeting emphasized the "stark contradiction between scale and safety standards" at the trust, which official data shows "remains an outlier on perinatal mortality."

The inquiry follows a June downgrade by the Care Quality Commission, which rated maternity services at the trust as "inadequate" and identified serious risks to women and babies. Inspectors highlighted a deep-rooted "blame culture" that made staff reluctant to raise concerns about incidents. Brendan Brown, chief executive of LTH NHS Trust, apologized to bereaved families and expressed hope that the inquiry would provide them with "answers." He stated the trust is "determined to do better" and is already taking significant steps to improve maternity and neonatal services following reviews by regulatory bodies.

Families affected by the failures have welcomed the inquiry but are calling for rigorous leadership, specifically requesting that midwife Donna Ockenden chair the investigation. Fiona Winser-Ramm, whose daughter Aliona died in 2020 after an inquest found multiple failures, emphasized the importance of ensuring the inquiry is "the best and most thorough that it can possibly be." She described how families have been "thrust into this life that none of us should be living," noting that their shared grief should never have brought them together under such circumstances.

Serious questions are now being raised about what Sir Julian Hartley, who led the trust for ten years until 2023 and now heads the Care Quality Commission, knew about the poor maternity care. In a statement, Sir Julian expressed being "truly sorry" for families' suffering and said that while he was "absolutely committed to ensuring good patient care across all services, including maternity," this commitment "wasn't enough to prevent some families suffering pain and loss." Lauren Caulfield, whose daughter Grace died in 2022, called it "completely unacceptable that nothing has been done to date" to examine Sir Julian's role, expressing hope that the inquiry will address this gap.