Media bodies seek assurances from Home Office

The Society of Editors and Crime Reporters Association (CRA) have written to the Home Office seeking assurances that proposals to introduce ‘a presumption of anonymity’ for firearms officers ahead of conviction will not routinely be used in courts to shield officers from public scrutiny.

The proposals, which were announced earlier this week, follow the acquittal last week of Metropolitan Police Service firearms officer Sergeant Martyn Blake following the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba in September 2022.

In a letter to the Home Secretary, the Society and CRA said that while they recognised that criminal prosecutions brought against police officers for actions taken in the course of their duties are extremely rare, the proposals represented a “significant departure from the principle of open justice” and, as such, raise “serious questions about transparency and public confidence in the police service.”

They added: “While limited to firearms officers at present, the introduction of such legislation risks laying the framework for other officers accused of using force in the line of duty to seek anonymity under the same provisions and, with this in mind, we would welcome your assurances as to what measures you have taken to ensure this cannot happen and that judges will not seek to apply the same provisions elsewhere.”

The proposals, announced on Wednesday 23 October by the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, are being introduced in an effort to protect firearms officers from future retribution and form part of a package of measures intended to “strengthen public confidence in the police”, Cooper said. In response, the Society and CRA said that open justice considerations must also be taken into account.

They added: “Open justice remains a fundamental principle at the very heart of our justice system and is vital to our rule of law. This week you talked about restoring confidence in the police. For confidence to be enhanced, the rule of law must apply equally to police as it does to the general public.”